


Phoenix Rose

by Vengfulfate



Category: RWBY
Genre: But not explicit, F/F, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, No Cinder/Salem, Those guys suck, White Fang tho
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-01
Updated: 2019-06-19
Packaged: 2020-04-06 03:57:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 54,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19054759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vengfulfate/pseuds/Vengfulfate
Summary: Upon nearing graduation, Ruby Rose is captured in a last attempt by the dying White Fang. She returns soon, but changed... A dark secret manifests, one that leads Ruby to distancing herself from her friends and family. She pushes herself farther and farther away from her loved ones, leaving everyone to wonder what is wrong, and will she ever return?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> As part of my continued migration to AO3, this is another completed work from my fanfiction.net account. I will again follow the 'one chapter per day' I used to move Addiction. Please read and enjoy!  
> Image is a poster I drew myself, originally posted to IG shortly before initial publishing on fanficiton
> 
> Support and feedback is always appreciated!

Dawn broke. The birds chirped and the wind blew softly. The world was peaceful on the Beacon landing pad. That is, until the airship powered up. Carried upon it were the four members of the fourth-year team RWBY, embarking on a special mission. The girls were greeted by a hologram of Beacon's headmaster, Professor Ozpin. "Good morning, Team RWBY."

"Good morning, Professor." Ruby greeted confidently. She had come into her own in the past four years.

"I assume by now you all know your mission?" Ozpin asked them.

"We are to locate the hidden White Fang HQ, which we now suspect to be somewhere on Menagerie." Weiss rattled off, remembering the mission script word for word.

"Good. This mission may take a number of weeks." Ozpin warned them.

"Will we be back in time for graduation?" Yang asked.

"Take your time." Was all Ozpin said in answer to that question. "This could be the end of the White Fang, if all goes well."

"Thank you for this opportunity, Professor." Blake nodded her head.

"I have a feeling you would have chased it on your own anyways." Ozpin smiled.

"Whatever do you mean? We've only ever fought the White Fang in self-defense." Yang mocked innocence.

"Right." Weiss scolded, her voice heavy with sarcasm. "When they were minding their own business, in their own base, and just happened upon us, when we  _just happened_  to stumble upon it taking a midnight stroll in  _Mistral_ , it was definitely self-defense."

"Never the less, you four have the most experience. And the most drive." Ozpin cut the girls short before chaos ensued. "It's a long flight to Menagerie. Settle in."

The girls did just that. throughout the course of the flight, between bouts of Yang and Weiss's bickering, Ruby had time to think.  _And the most drive._  He was certainly correct. Four years of happening upon the wrong end of the White Fang time after time had taken its toll. Everyone on this airship (except for the pilot) had been damaged by the White Fang, either emotionally or physically.

On the physical side, was Weiss and Yang. The heiress was sporting a new scar these days. This one ran parallel to her old one, closer to the center of her eye. It was a little longer on both ends, though just as thin. Though new scars were a dime a dozen for a huntress, the kicker was her eye, which was a much paler blue than its partner, telling of permanent damage. The Dust Mage had concocted a special dust formulae that allowed her to see out of that eye again, albeit temporarily. She usually applied some before a mission or spar, as she did now when they got closer to Menagerie.

The blonde brute was wearing a thick leather sleeve over the entirety of her right arm, keeping the damage underneath safe from the open air. The flesh underneath was scarred and exposed, so much so that muscle was visible, and infections could easily set in. It also apparently caused constant pain, and the doctors had assigned her what they were afraid would become a permanent prescription of powerful painkillers. Worse yet, Yang would flip flop between taking so many it seemed an addiction, and stopping altogether because, according to her, 'the pain gives her focus.' Ruby noticed she failed to pack any for this mission.

On the emotional side of things, stood Blake and Ruby. Blake had spent years in the White Fang, and was more or less the reason RWBY had ended up starting a personal war against the corrupted organization. When they realized they couldn't stop her from going off on her own to fight, they decided the best way to keep her alive was to go with her, and fight as a team. Each new injury, especially the major ones sported by Weiss and Yang, weighed heavily on her conscious, whether she deserved it or not.

And finally, Ruby. While the red reaper had never been directly hurt by the White Fang, the more it damaged her team, the more it affected her. This impersonal aspect worked in RWBY's favor, as she was constantly the one to remind them that the White Fang needed justice, not to be revenged upon. But she still couldn't stand to see those she cared for hurt. Her sister, her partner, and the woman she had come to care for above even them. Ruby Rose was a sweet, innocent girl who was still very much a child at heart, despite now being 19 years old. She didn't get mad, not when Yang usually did it for her. But the White Fang had succeeded where others had failed. It took something special to earn her anger, and the White Fang was soon going to feel it all.

"You okay, Ruby?" Blake asked, seeing her lost in thought. As stated above, Ruby had begun to care for someone even more than her sister. That someone was Blake Belladonna, who she had been dating since near the beginning of their third year at Beacon.

The red reaper smiled. "I'm fine Blake."

"We'll be there soon. You sure you're ready?" Blake continued questioning, ever concerned.

Ruby thought a moment and grinned. She took Blake's chin and placed a chaste kiss on her cheek. "For luck." The redhead told her.

Blake, always the more aggressive of the two, grabbed Ruby's chin and planted a full kiss right on her lips. When she drew away, she was smirking. "For luck." The cat girl repeated.

Weiss grunted at the display, and Yang's soon-to-be-broken-by-an-angry-Blake scroll sounded a shutter. "Ugh!" Weiss exclaimed as pieces of screen flew everywhere. "Can we please avoid killing each other for just a few more months! We've almost managed to graduate, by some unknown force!"

"Hey, calm down, princess! We're just having fun!" Yang shouted, leaning towards Weiss.

"Your 'fun' is giving me a headache!" Weiss shouted back, leaning towards Yang.

"Yeah, well you wouldn't know fun it was right in front of your  _eye_!"

"You wouldn't know class in a room surrounded by actual royalty!"

"Well,  _you_ -"

" **Oh, would you two just kiss already!?** " Ruby and Blake shouted at once, interrupting the two. Yang and Weiss were suddenly as far as they could be from each other after this comment, mumbling to themselves.

"We're near our landing point, ETA ten minutes." The pilot told them through the overhead speaker. The girls got ready, smiling.  _This will be the day. We will finally win._

* * *

"Blake!"

The scene was chaos. They had found the White Fang base easily. Too easily, it would seem. From almost the moment they stepped inside, they were at war. In less than a minute, it was clear they were on the losing side of the confrontation. The remaining forces were larger than they anticipated, and their supposed element of surprise had fallen through. That's not to say they didn't put up a good fight, but even four fully trained huntresses could only do so much against an entire army. The cave fortress was in flames, people were shouting and fighting, but all Blake saw was Ruby.

"Blake!"

Ruby cried her lover's name from the other side of burning rubble. Blake strained against the person holding her wrist, stretching out for the redhead. "Ruby! Hang on!"

"Blake, we need to go!" Weiss cried, tugging on Blake's wrist harder.

"Blake!" Ruby cried.

"We need to go!" Weiss shouted.

"But Ruby!" Blake argued, straining against Weiss's grip.

"We'll be back!" Weiss told her. "But if we  _all_  get captured, we won't be able to help her!"

"We'll be back for you!" Blake shouted, finally relenting to the heiress's pull. " _I'll_  be back for you! I promise!"

Blake didn't get a chance to hear Ruby's response. A White Fang soldier knocked Ruby out. The last thing Blake saw was her girlfriend being dragged away, deeper into the base…

* * *

The halls of Beacon were quiet. Ozpin had assured them they had Menagerie sealed off, that the White Fang couldn't escape. The organization was on its last legs. But they wouldn't go down without a fight, and Ozpin wanted them to rest and wait for backup before returning. The last few nights were incredibly restless for team RWBY, for one more than the rest. Yang was searching for her, following the sounds of training to the room Blake had spent every moment since her return inside.

Yang entered the gym and saw Blake hard at work, striking, slicing, jumping, cloning… and slower than ever, the blonde noticed as well. "Blake!" She called out to her partner.

The faunus ninja put a pause on her workout to see to Yang. She still flinched when she saw the sleeve. "What is it?"

"Blake, haven't we had this conversation before?" Yang asked.

"'Slow down' you mean?" Blake correctly assumed. "Yang, every time I try, all I can think of is… her being dragged away… If I keep moving, time goes by faster."

"You're moving even slower than the last time I checked in on you, and that was only a few hours ago." Yang informed her.

"You checked on me a few hours ago?" Blake asked.

"I don't call to you every time I see you. That's Ruby's job." Yang joked, and regretted the moment she made it. "I'm sorry, I-"

"Don't worry about it." Blake assured her.

"Look." Yang returned to the point. "If you don't rest before we go back, you won't be at your best. And we need you at your best.  _Ruby_  needs you."

"Is it time to go?" Blake asked.

"No, but-"

"I can sleep on the airship." Blake deadpanned.

"With how hard  _you_  are training," Weiss cut in, walking in from the shadows of the hallway, "You're going to need more than that."

"Weiss-" Blake started.

"Shush." The heiress cut her off. "I know this is hard for you. So I'm not going to drag you out of here. Just get some regular rest before we head back out." Weiss dropped a bag she was carrying in the corner of the gym. "For when you're ready. Let's go, Yang."

Blake was left alone in the gym. She took a curious look in the bag and saw a bedroll, some dry food, a dust powered self-heating kettle, and a tea set complete with a pot, a cup, and a few teabags. With a soft smile, she packed it back up and returned the training. The next time Yang checked on her partner, she was fast asleep, a half-finished cup of tea still steaming next to her.

* * *

Ruby woke slowly. Darkness receded as she opened her eyes, her vision focusing on cold iron bars. She was chained to the wall, and too tired to continue straining against them. Her body was broken and bleeding. She would have called it torture, but no one ever asked a single question. They just walked in, beat on her, and left. For five days, all they did was release their aggressions on her. No words, no reason, and no warning.

The cage door slid open again, the only hint Ruby ever got that someone was coming. She looked up and saw someone she actually recognized. From the mission briefings, and from Blake's drawings and stories. For the first time in five days, she was finally visited by Adam Taurus. The current leader of the last vestiges of the White Fang. Ruby expected to be scared when she saw him. But she wasn't even angry. Days of pointless torture had left her with only one thing left to feel. Tired.

"Hello huntress." Adam greeted. "You and your friends have been giving me quite the headache."

"It's over…" Ruby managed with a weak voice. "They'll be back for me… And when they do, it's all over…"

"It's true they have us in a corner." Adam told her, stepping into the cell. "However," he continued, walking close to Ruby and kneeling in front of her, "animals are most dangerous when cornered."

Ruby gave a short, broken laugh. "So… heh… you admit you're an animal…"

The backhand across her broken cheek was worth it. He grabbed her chin and turned her to face him. Their noses were inches away, and he opened his mouth to retort. He hesitated, and slowly sniffed the redheads neck. "Blake…" He whispered, and slammed Ruby back against the wall. "I can smell her all over you!"

Ruby could see Adam properly, and even through the mask she could tell he was furious. "You think your worthy of  _my_  Blake!?"

"She's not yours." Ruby spat. There it was. The anger.

"No  _human_  is worthy of  _any_ faunus!" Adam shouted, confessing the White Fang's supremacist ideologies. "And  _you_  are certainly not worthy of  _my Blake_!" He sprang to his feet and turned his back on his captive. "There will be a punishment. For even  _considering_  touching a faunus intimately. Not death, not yet. I might need you when your friends come back. But perhaps…" he turned back. "You want to be a faunus whore?"

Adam let out a different kind of aggression that day. And Ruby's nightmare was complete. Her captivity had turned into her hell.

* * *

Blake was fast asleep on her mat in the gym when Yang entered and politely shook her awake. Blake looked up at the blonde. "It's time." Blake said. It wasn't a question. The faunus knew. She felt it. She quickly gathered her things and made her way to the mission briefing area. There, over a dozen huntsmen and huntresses stood, ready to end this. Among them were Taiyang, Qrow, and team CFVY. Team JNPR wanted to be here, but Ozpin told them he had already made one exception too many, and the three from RWBY were the only un-graduated Hunters there.

"Good, we're all here." Ozpin noted Blake and Yang enter the room. "Then we can begin. A week ago now, there was a mission to find the White Fang base. There was hopes that it would lead to the end." Ozpin looked down at the floor. "That mission did not go to plan. And one of our own was captured. For one week too long, she has been at the mercy of the White Fang. It is time to bring that to an end."

"How do we know she's still alive?" A Huntress asked.

"She's alive." Blake deadpanned.

"What miss Belladonna is trying to say," Ozpin took control of the conversation, "is that Adam is in a corner. He will take any advantage he will get. Including hostages."

Blake was relieved to hear a solid, believable reason to back up her wishes that were, admittedly, still only wishes at the moment of her outburst.

"And they haven't moved?" Another Huntsmen asked.

"I had Menagerie locked down the moment I heard the report. The White Fang is on its last legs, and they know it. But Adam's a fanatic, and likely any faunus left with him at this point share his mindset. They won't go down without a fight, and they  _will_  fight like they can win. That is why we are all here. To finish off the White Fang, and save Ruby Rose."

"Did you say Rose?"

"As in Summer?"

"Summer Rose's daughter?"

"Yes." Taiyang answered the consensus. "And my daughter. We will save her."

The resolve of the room was solidified. Summer wasn't a household name, but if you were a Huntsmen or Huntress when she was still alive, then likely you knew her. As a friend, or maybe you owed her a favor. Maybe even your life. And they were ready to pay the dearly departed woman back.

The room was dismissed, and the group filed out. One of the Huntresses came up to Blake. "You and Rose's daughter are together, aren't you?" The woman asked.

"Yes." Blake nodded.

"Summer saved my ass once. I took a big bounty. Needed the money. Bit off more than I could chew, then Summer came. Even let me keep the money." The woman explained. "A lot of people here have similar stories. We'll get… what was it, Ruby? We'll get Ruby back. Don't worry."

"I'm not." Blake assured her. "Not anymore."

"Good. I gotta prepare. You better too." She nodded the faunus way and walked off. Blake smiled, knowing they had this in the bag.


	2. Chapter 2

Ruby had escaped her own head. She was visited by Adam a few more times over the next few days. She began to hope the next time the door slid open, it was someone who wanted to hit her, and not the bull-horned man. She disconnected herself when she didn't get her wish. When the fighting broke out, she didn't hear it. When the fires glowed the wall opposite her cell orange, she didn't see it. But that acute sound… the soft and subtle opening of the cell door. The sound she knew so well… that she heard.

She looked up. And she didn't know if she finally snapped or if Blake was really standing in front of her. Tears welled, and she tried to croak out words through an injured throat. "Bl-… Bla-…"  _Cough…_

That's when the faunus gripped her tight. Ruby smelt the familiar smell of Blake's shampoo, felt the comforting warmth only her girlfriend could truly provide. Her tears fell faster, and as Blake undid the cuffs, Ruby's arms fell around her. The redhead couldn't speak. She only sobbed into Blake's shoulder until she passed out.

Yang rushed into the room and found the two sitting there. Ruby, limp in Blake's arms. "Is she…?" The blonde asked, fearful.

"She's alive." Blake told her. "She's breathing, I can feel it. But she needs a hospital. She's weak."

"Got it. I'll call someone." Yang assured her.

"How's the rest of it looking?" Blake asked.

"We brought more than enough Huntsmen." Yang answered as she pulled out her scroll. "Don't even worry about it, Blake. It's finally all over."

While the blonde was calling Ruby's location in, Blake looked over her. She was bleeding from multiple wounds and lacerations, and the faunus was afraid that she could see bone sticking out form a few of them. She had more bruises than open wounds, but from the look of her, Blake wondered how much damage she  _couldn't_ see. Others soon found the cell, and Ruby was hoisted out on a stretcher, to be taken to a hospital on the mainland.

* * *

"She has at least twelve broken bones, three of which are ribs, and both her left forearm bones, as well as her left Femur. The rest are small bones in her wrists and her right hand. Fortunately, there is no internal bleeding, though she has lost a lot of blood regardless. She's lucky."

Blake only stared at Ruby through the window to her room as the doctor gave them the gory details. Yang, Weiss, Taiyang and Qrow were also in the room, listening to the doctor.

"Will she make it?" Taiyang asked.

"No doubt. With enough aura and rest, and a bit of regular, practical medicine. I've seen huntresses worse than her completely recover in only a week. You people are certainly made of different stuff. She should be completely able to walk at her own graduation." The doctor told them.

The room breathed a sigh of relief. Ruby looked bad, but she was going to be okay. Blake kept watching her, and saw her stir. Her eyes went wide. "Ruby!"

With the doctor's permission, the group entered the room as Ruby opened her eyes. The redhead looked around her. "I'm… It was… real… Blake?"

Blake stepped out from behind Yang, into Ruby's view. The faunus smiled. "I told you I would come back."

"Blake…" Ruby smiled.

The faunus approached the bedside slowly. "How are you feeling?"

Images of everything that had happened flashed through Ruby's mind in an instant. "I feel numb… I guess that's the hospital stuff, though…"

"You'll be out soon, Rubes." Yang promised. "And we'll be waiting."

* * *

Ruby wasn't the same. It became more obvious when she returned to Beacon. For starters, she still had a lot of healing to go. The doctor wanted her to stay, but Ruby was tired of lying in bed 'resting' all day. Even if she couldn't spar or even lift anything too heavy, it was easier to distract herself at school. It wasn't hard to understand why. Someone could only endure so much pain before it affects their mind…

Blake was the only one who noticed the extreme as unusual. Ruby wasn't just being distant. She had been actively avoiding Blake since she got back. She was always quick with an excuse whenever the faunus actually managed to corner her girlfriend, and Blake couldn't help but feel that something else had happened. Something that Ruby hadn't told them. Something that affected how she saw herself, or worse, how she saw Blake.

The faunus awoke one morning, gazing forlornly at Ruby's bunk. This morning, however, Ruby wasn't in it. She sat up and saw Yang at the door to the bathroom, waiting. "What's going on?" She asked the blonde.

"Rubes is having a bad morning. She woke up, nearly fell out her bed from vertigo, and ran into the bathroom. I think she's throwing up." Yang explained. "Maybe you and Weiss should just head to class without us today, Blake. I'll take care of-"

"I'll be fine, Yang." A groggy Ruby stepped out of the bathroom. "I think it's past."

"Ruby, maybe you should stay in bed?" Blake suggested, concerned.

"That would be no better than the hospital. I'm fine." Ruby assured them.

"I think Blake's right." Yang confessed.

"Look, I promise I'll call the day quits if I feel bad again, but I'm fine now. It was just a quick thing, nothing serious." Ruby argued. The other two had no choice but to accept the stubborn girl's wishes.

* * *

"I think I'm staying in today, guys…" she told them all as they waited for her to exit the bathroom. It had been three days since her first morning upset, and it didn't seem to be letting up.

"Much as I agree with you, you need to eat something and try to keep it down. We can ask the kitchen to make you some soup?" Weiss suggested.

"She can stay here, and I'll take it back to the dorm." Blake immediately offered.

Ruby nodded. "Can I use one of your beds?" She asked Blake and Weiss. "I don't think I can make it into mine."

"Use mine." Blake told her. "And I'll use yours until this stomach bug passes." Ruby nodded and clambered into Blake's bed.

A few minutes later Blake returned, steaming bowl of soup in her hand. She opened the door and looked over Ruby with a frown. Ruby looked up, saw Blake's frown, and managed a weak smile. "I'll be fine, Blake."

"I know, it's just… I know." Blake nodded and handed her the bowl.

Ruby took it. Her nose scrunched. "What is it?"

"Chicken Noodle." Blake answered.

"It smells… off."

"It smells fine to me. Maybe it's because you're sick?" Blake suggested.

"I suppose…" Ruby tried to take a bite, but couldn't handle the smell. Blake took the bowl back. "I'll have them make something else."

"No, Blake, it's fine." Ruby insisted. "Don't bother the chefs, I can handle it."

"I'll be right back!" Blake told her, already out the door. In half the time as last time, she returned with more soup. "Told you!"

Ruby shook her head and smiled. "You didn't have to."

"I want to take care of you." Blake told her. "I want you to be happy."

Ruby smiled. She was starting to remember why she had fallen for Blake in the first place, why she had said yes when the faunus asked her on a date. Her smile failed as memories of Adam surfaced.

Blake noted the change in emotion. "Ruby, what's wrong?"

"Nothing." Ruby assured her faunus lover. "You should get to class."

"Ruby, please…" Blake begged.

"I'm fine." The redhead told her, turning her head away. "You're already late by now. You should go."

"No." Blake put her foot down. "Look, I know it's a terrible time for this, but I won't let you keep avoiding it! Just… please talk to me, Ruby."

Ruby turned back to Blake. "Alright…" The redhead realized she was backed into a corner. "What do you want to talk about?"

"About whatever it is you aren't telling anybody." Blake asked. "There's something going on, something they did to you… and it's messing with your head."

Ruby shifted in her seat, unsure of how to proceed. Adam was at the forefront of her mind, but there was no way she could tell anybody… for all their tortures, that hurt the most. Pain that wasn't physical.  _But I need to tell somebody… I want to tell Blake… it's just one little confession…_  "I.. It's just… It's just… how much." Ruby settled on, cursing herself silently. "They never said anything, Blake. They just entered the cell, hit me, and left. I wasn't a prisoner. I wasn't a hostage. I was a stress ball, a punching bag. And they had a lot of stress…"

Blake hugged the girl close, and Ruby hesitated to return it. When she did, Blake spoke up. "It's over now Ruby. And you'll heal. You'll be good as new, better even. And this will all be a thing of the past."

Ruby nodded. "You really should head to class, Blake. I get you want to take care of me, but I won't let you sacrifice your grades. Not this close to graduation."

"Fine, fearless leader." Blake joked. "I'll see you later?"

Ruby nodded, and Blake left. The faunus stepped outside, unable to shake the feeling Ruby still wasn't telling her everything.  _But I've pushed too much already. She needs to heal first. Then we can talk. For real, this time._

When Blake finally left, Ruby broke. She started sobbing uncontrollably. "I'm so sorry Blake…" Ruby no longer knew why couldn't speak on it. Even if she tried, she always ended up saying something else. Returning to those nights was something she never wanted to do, but she did every night in her dreams. She spent so long in the shower now because most of it was her sitting on the bottom and crying. It was the only time she didn't have eyes on her. She felt violated, disturbed, unclean… and Blake was still pure. How can she possibly return to the relationship they had?

 _And how will she ever understand if I can't tell her?_  Ruby thought, and cried more. By the time the rest of team RWBY returned to check on her at lunch, she was long asleep, fidgeting in her nightmares. The soup lay cold and forgotten.

* * *

Over the next few days, Ruby appeared to be getting better. In truth, her nausea wasn't gone, but she had adjusted to it. Other than the nausea and her persistent nightmares, things finally seemed to be getting back to almost normal. She still couldn't look Blake in the eye for more than a few seconds, but that was something else entirely. The classes, the homework, the day to day, however, all seemed right again.  _Perhaps I'm finally starting to get over it… maybe I can tell someone soon… I know I need to…_

Until one morning at breakfast. She was on auto-pilot in the mess hall, barely seeing what she was picking up. When she got back to the table, she received funny looks from her team mates. "What?"

"Pickles in honey?" Weiss asked.

"Cucumbers in ice cream?" Blake followed.

"And I thought you hated peanut butter and banana sandwiches…" Yang finished. "Plus, there's like… a lot…"

"Are you really planning to eat all of that?" Weiss asked, a hint of something in her voice… the same little hint she got whenever she was close to figuring out something during a study session.

"I guess I am." Ruby shrugged. "People's taste buds change, right? At least I'm eating at all." The redhead recalled the first few days she was back she ate nothing.

"Maybe it's because of that?" Blake theorized, silently wishing things could just be normal again. "She might just be hungry."

"I suppose…" Weiss sounded unconvinced.

Ruby shrugged and began eating, finishing the whole plate.

Later, Weiss cornered her outside of the first class, waiting until people disappeared before speaking. "Ruby, a lot of what you've been doing lately is kind of… suspicious. Is there something you haven't told any of us?" Weiss asked.

"What are you talking about?" Ruby asked.

"The puking, the eating… it's fine on its own, but all of it together? Ruby, are you sure you've told us  _everything_  they did to you?" Weiss asked, showing her concern.

This was Ruby's chance. Weiss may have been her partner, but she wasn't as close to Ruby personally. Their relationship stayed mainly professional. Maybe it was just the kind of person Ruby needed to finally tell someone. The redhead opened her mouth…

"No. There's nothing else…" and immediately cursed herself. "Can we please stop talking about it? Everybody keeps asking me, and I don't want to go back there…"

"I understand…" Weiss looked dejected, but she believed her partner. Which almost hurt Ruby worse than the actual lie. "I'm sorry."

That interaction did give the redhead something to think about all day. Weiss almost stumbled on what was quickly becoming Ruby's dark secret, because of things she was doing.  _Not so bad on their own, but when put together…_  The soon-to-be-huntress began linking all the strange things happening lately, with the one thing Weiss didn't have. Knowledge of what truly happened. One conclusion came quickly, and she just as quickly discounted it. But all day, she kept coming back to it, and it was soon the only conclusion with any logical merit. It terrified her to the core. She had to  _know_.

* * *

Ruby went into Vale, looking for an out-of-the-way convenience store or gas station. Somewhere where the popularized huntress might not be so quickly recognized. Their exploits against the White Fang in the past few years had made team RWBY famous, red cloaks even become popular fashion. Some simpler clothes and her hood was all she needed to move town unnoticed, with so many other red hoods in the crowd.

She finally found the place she was looking for, and started scanning the shelves for the  _item_  she was looking for. Soon she located the item in question, and took a few boxes along with a case of water to the counter. The clerk raised an eyebrow at her selection.

"Do… you have a key for the bathroom?" Ruby asked as quietly as she could manage.

The clerk looked over her, and grew sad. He could tell she didn't want this. "Here." He passed her the key. "I don't get many customers, so you can take all the time you need."

Nearly two hours, 20 water bottles, and two dozen little sticks later saw the red reaper in tears. The little sticks were scattered about the floor where she tossed them in denial before picking up the next one. But with the final stick in her hand starting to show the same symbol as the others, there was little more Ruby could do to deny the truth.

As the little plus sign faded in, Ruby slid down the wall. She dropped the last pregnancy test and hugged her knees. There was only one way this was possible. One person who could possibly have done this to her. And the last thing Ruby wanted to do was bear  _his_  child.


	3. Chapter 3

Ruby took her time walking back to Beacon. By the time she returned to the dorm, everyone else was asleep, and she had a plan. She was up until midnight on her scroll, researching for clinics in Vale. Abortion was legal, but everywhere Ruby looked, there were miles of red tape that meant either Yang or her dad would find out before the child was removed. That was something she didn't want. She kept researching until she formed a plan.

First, she would hope she didn't get too big before she left Beacon. Then, once she was safely graduated, she would go to Mistral. The laws were a bit laxer there, plus Mistral was the kind of place where one was likely to find clinics that performed 'off the books'. Then, finally, once everything was taken care of, she would return to her team. And then she would tell them everything. But not before. She still can't handle before, now more than ever…

But before all of that, Ruby decided, she would cry herself to sleep tonight.

* * *

The next few weeks Ruby worked harder not to let her condition be obvious. She had already convinced her team she was no longer nauseous, so score one. Now, she had to pay attention to her breakfast and ensure she didn't pick any suspicious foods. She still ended up having more than she usually ate, but no one noticed this time. She looked up other possible symptoms, and planned for how to avoid showing them when they arrived.

The hardest one, as it turned out, was her own body. She stepped out of the shower one morning, and looked into the mirror while she was still undressed. She noticed the bump immediately. It looked like a little pot belly, like she had eaten too much too many days in a row, which one could suppose that was true. But Ruby knew this was different. She was already showing, and she still had three weeks until graduation. When she started dressing for the day, she intentionally 'borrowed' one of Yang's school shirts. The sister was still taller and bigger in the chest, and the extra cloth in her tailored Beacon uniform proved helpful. For her day clothes, Ruby simply stopped wearing her corset.

One thing she scolded herself for not anticipating was Blake. It was only a week until their graduation when Ruby was a little slow leaving class and was cornered by the faunus. "Ruby, Wait!" She heard Blake shout.

The redhead tried to speed up, but a wave of vertigo and the chicken she forced down at lunch threatened to do much worse than slow her down. She felt the hand on her shoulder and turned around. "Oh. Hey Blake."

"Ruby, where have you been?" Blake asked.

"What do you mean? I've been in classes, in the dorm…" Ruby answered.

"No, I mean in your head. You seem to be avoiding your team, and when you are in the dorm, you zone out. You listen to music, or even sleep, but you haven't even spoken to any of us in weeks…" Blake voiced her concerns. "Not even me…"

"Blake, I'm…" Ruby was about to say  _I'm fine_ , but she saw another opportunity here. "I'm not quite 100%. And I don't think I will be without a little time off… some time away to not even be me."

"What are you saying?" Blake asked, her ears drooping.

"I'm saying… after we graduate, I'll be taking a little… vacation. Alone." Ruby told her, wincing. She knew what was coming next.

"What about our plan?" Blake reminded her. "To get away together? To run from Weiss and Yang, to run from being huntresses and for a few months, and just be girlfriends?"

"I know…" Ruby teared up. "I'm sorry…. But I can't… I still have stuff to fix about me… and I need to do it alone…"

"I… understand." Blake nodded reluctantly.

The pair stood awkwardly for a few moments. Then Ruby hugged Blake, and Blake returned it tightly.

"Ruby… are we…" Blake voiced the one thing worrying her above all else.

Ruby didn't answer, because she truly didn't know.

* * *

Ruby was starting to be glad she had already decided to limit interactions with her team mates. Yang and Weiss stopped shouting at each other through her. Unfortunately, this meant that they had started shouting at each other to their faces. 'Would you tell your oaf of a sister to pick up her nasty towels' and 'let the princess know she should stop shedding in the shower drain' became full-fledged arguments.

"We are only a few days from our graduation, and I will be  _damned_  if you get yourself kicked out before then and ruin it for the whole team!" Weiss shouted at Yang.

"It was just one prank! One end of the year prank, and Cardin deserved it! What has you so tied up anyway!?" Yang shouted right back.

"You almost got expelled!" Weiss shouted.

"Why do you care, princess!?"

"You know what? I don't. Why would I care for a big… stinking… blonde  _brute_  such as yourself!" Weiss cut deep.

"Why would I care for a stuck up, spoiled, rich  _bitch_  such as  _your_ self!" Yang retaliated.

" _Would you two shut up for five minutes!_ " Ruby screamed. She had had enough of this madness, and her pregnant-lady mood swings weren't helping. The two had been dancing around their feelings for months, feelings Ruby and Blake saw were there as early as their second year. "Every little pet peeve explodes into something that shakes the dorm every time you speak lately! Why don't you two wander off, separately, and think about  _why_  you are irrationally angry at little things.  _You might learn something!_ "

Ruby finished by slamming the door to RWBY dorm after pushing the two into the hallway. Weiss and Yang looked to each other, huffed, and walked off in separate directions.

 _Why do I let myself get bothered over the brute?_  Weiss thought as she walked.  _Well, she is just an infuriating person! I'm not the only one to get bothered… Blake always… well sometimes she… actually, her and Yang talk a lot of stuff out… But Ren!... wait, he ignores her… Pyrrha? Jaune? Sun? Nora?_  Weiss halted.  _Nora, Weiss? You really are grasping at straws…_

"Hello, Weiss." Lei Ren approached from behind.

"Oh! Hello, Ren. How are you?" The heiress greeted formally.

"I'm well. Though I couldn't help but overhear the… encounter across the hall." Ren told her.

"I'm sorry, she is just so frustrating." Weiss fumed. "I mean, she frustrates the rest of you, right?"

"Yes, but we don't let it get to us like you do." Ren confirmed Weiss's doubts from a moment ago. "And why is that?"

"What do you mean?" Weiss asked.

"I mean..." Ren smiled and came up with a plan. "What do you  _like_  about her?"

"Like? There's nothing to  _like_. She is one hundred percent infuriating." Weiss vented.

"Or… You're in denial."

"Excuse me!"

"Weiss, listen." Ren turned to her. "Is it really so farfetched that someone would take everything they like about someone and subconsciously turn it into things they hate if they cannot believe they are really fond of this person?"

"While that makes some sense, that is  _not_  Yang and I." Weiss stood her ground.

"How can you be sure if you're deceiving yourself." Ren shrugged. "To be honest, I'm not sure if it is. But at least give it real thought."

Ren walked away at that moment, leaving Weiss with her thoughts. "That's not Yang and I… Is it?"

The heiress decided to walk back to the dorm and try to catch her team mate there. It turned out, Yang and her returned at the same time. "Oh… Hey Weiss." Yang greeted, visually nervous.

"Hello, Yang…" Weiss nodded. She took a deep breath. "Yang, I just had a talk with Ren, about denial and things like that…"

"Funny…" Yang smiled. "I had a similar one with Blake just now…"

"How similar?" Weiss asked, her heart beating faster than it had any right to.

"Weiss… I'm sorry." Yang confessed. "I don't mean half the things I say. Well, your hair clogging the drain is annoying, but I'm sure me leaving my towels out is too. But… You're not stuck up, you're proud, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. Also, you're not really spoiled, not anymore… And you're not really that much of a bitch… well… anymore, at least… okay, this is bad. I am bad at this."

Weiss found herself giggling at the blonde's fluster. "It's okay. You're not stupid, you're not stinky, though you are a little bit of a brute, but not in a bad way. And I suppose I could do a better job cleaning my hair out of the drain… maybe, part of me wanted the fight. It seems to be the only way we talk since… forever."

Yang smiled. "Maybe… we can give up trying to make each other angry… and try making each other happy instead?"

"What are saying?" Weiss returned the smile.

"I'm saying… what harm can one kiss do?" Yang offered.

It was Weiss's turn to fluster. "You're blunt as always…" She tried to fan herself as she turned bright red. "How about we start with just dinner? Though I don't know if we'll have time before graduation."

Yang thought for a moment. "Sounds good, then. Just nowhere too fancy. Don't need to be getting kicked out of the restaurant."

"Agreed." Weiss smiled and went to enter the dorm.

Yang smirked and set her true plan into action. She grabbed Weiss by the waist, tilted her over, and planted a full kiss on her lips. Weiss was too startled to push off, and ended up returning the kiss instead. After two seconds, she regained herself and shoved the blonde away. "What the hell! I told you to wait…"

Yank didn't lose her smirk.  _If Weiss can't handle this side of me, we won't work out anyways._ "You loved it."

Weiss tried to stay frustrated, but couldn't keep it up. Instead, she smiled. "Maybe I did."

 _Score one!_  Yang celebrated internally. "Are we still doing dinner after graduation?"

"Of course." Weiss nodded. "You better be on your best behavior, because after that stunt, I may just want to spoil you."

"My best behavior isn't very good." Yang warned her.

"Trust me, I know. But still try. For me?" Weiss asked.

Yang giggled. "Alright, Weissy. For you."

* * *

Ruby finally managed to get through that last week without incident. Even her baby bump had seemed to slow its growth, and she was able to walk on stage with a gown that was curiously enough mis-ordered a few sizes too large.  _I don't know who messed up, but I'm glad they did._  The redhead thought to herself as she climbed the steps onto the stage.

Ozpin gave a short speech to each person as they were handed their Huntress card. It had the ID number they could use to accept missions going into the future. Ruby almost forgot about all the bad in her life, as she finally held the one object she sought after since she was 10 years old. For the first time in a long time, she genuinely smiled. Then, just as quickly as it all started, it was over. There were pictures, smiles, talks of what was next. Ruby took part in the social environment for a while, but there was something else on her mind. She was graduated, and free to carry out her plan.

She began to make her way to the door, but a voice stopped her. "Rubes, wait!" Yang shouted. Ruby stopped and turned slowly. "You're going, aren't you?" The blonde asked as she caught up.

Ruby blinked. "How do you know?"

"Blake told us." Weiss informed the redhead, her and the faunus in question joining the conversation.

"Were you really going to leave without saying goodbye?" Yang lamented.

"I'm sorry… I didn't want you guys to worry about me." Ruby told them.

"Of course we'll worry about you, dolt." Weiss told her. "Stay in touch, okay? We have scrolls for a reason."

"And come back soon." Yang followed up.

"We'll be waiting." Blake promised.

Ruby smiled, tears in her eyes. Even after everything she had done the last two months, her friends still cared. "I'll see you guys soon. I love you, all of you."

Team RWBY shared one large group hug before going their separate ways. Yang and Weiss had a date to catch, Blake decided to go home for at least a month or two, and Ruby… Well, we know where Ruby is going.

But will it turn out how the redhead expects it to?


	4. Chapter 4

Mistral was a very different place than Vale. The architecture alone was very exotic. The whole city was built like layers on top of each other. And Ruby's instincts told her to go down. She made her way through the ever-darkening streets, the shadows growing larger. She eventually felt she delved deep enough and pulled out her scroll, looking for the nearest hospital. There wasn't any kind of big emergency center, but there was a small medical clinic a few streets away. Ruby nodded, steeling her resolve.

She walked through the front doors a few minutes later. A nurse at the desk was wearing midnight blue scrubs and had dark blue hair. "Ms. Nightgale?" Ruby called out, reading her name tag.

"How can I help you sweetheart?" The nurse responded, turning and smiling brightly.

"Hello…" Ruby greeted nervously. "I was hoping you could help me with a… problem of mine."

"Well, that's kind of why we're here!" Ms. Nightgale smiled cheerily. "What is your 'problem'?"

"It's… well… I'm…" Ruby rubbed her stomach.

Nightgale had been a nurse for years, long enough to see what was going on. "Oh. I see. May I ask the circumstance?"

"Painful." Was all Ruby gave her.

"I see…" The nurse nodded. "How far along are you?"

"About… ten weeks now…" Ruby told her.

"Oh…" The nurse thought. "Mistral is in the middle of a dispute on the matter of abortion, actually. The law is sort of in the balance, and this clinic has decided not to operate on anyone past two months."

"Oh…" Ruby's face fell. "Well… what about… y'now… off the books?"

Nightgale giggled. "Mistral may be known for its crime, but it's really not as bad as other kingdoms seem to think. It may not be as good as places like Vale or Atlas, but most of Mistral is actually a wonderful place to live."

"And the rest?" Ruby asked.

"Well, Mistral gets its reputation from somewhere." The nurse admitted. "May I suggest something?"

"What?" Ruby asked.

"Carry the baby to term, then if you still don't want it, you can give it up for adoption?" Nightgale suggested.

"I… I can't do that…" Ruby shook her head. "I have friends… family…"

"They don't know, do they?" The nurse assumed.

"I didn't want them to ever have to." Ruby admitted.

Nightgale looked over Ruby with a frown. The nurse herself wasn't fond of abortion, though if this was the result of what she came to assume, she might make the exception… but her better nature told her otherwise. "Like I said, if you carry it to term, you can give it up. And then you can return. I don't know what you told your family to get away, but can it be stretched?"

"You don't like… removal, do you?" Ruby deduced.

"I admit to personal politics in this matter." The nurse nodded. "But you won't find anywhere around here willing to do it. And nowhere else will offer what I can."

"Which is?" Ruby asked.

"Help." The nurse smiled. "As long as you don't mind sitting behind a desk for eight hours a day, I could get you hired on as a desk clerk. It's surprisingly simple, would be a load off my hands, and provide a paycheck while we wait."

Ruby considered her options. She really didn't want to have Adam's child, but it sounding like finding a clinic willing to operate would be harder than she thought. Besides, if she had it, then sent it away… perhaps it would go to a loving family. One that would raise it to not be like its father. "Alright. Thank you, Ms. Nightgale."

"Call me Flora." The nurse held out her hand.

"Ruby. Ruby Rose." The young huntress smiled and shook Flora's hand.

* * *

The first few weeks were okay, and Ruby was actually settling in very well. Without the need to hide her condition any longer, she was able to better focus on the tasks she was given. Paperwork, scheduling, and sometimes observing smaller medical situations, were all a part of her daily duties. Some days were slow, and some days were exceedingly fast. It was easy for her to get lost in her duties. Before she knew it, two more months had passed, and she had grown very large.

And then she had another issue. She remembered that she hadn't so much as messaged any of her friends or family in that two months. So today, she decided to get it out of the way. She only needed the mental fortitude to go through with it.

"Just do it." Flora urged her at lunch. The pair had started to become genuine friends, and often shared their meal times.

"It's not that easy, Flora." Ruby argued.

"It's only hard to start. You have a plan, right?" The nurse pointed out. "Just call her."

"But… I mean… what if I sound pregnant over the phone?" the redhead told her.

Flora rolled her eyes. "No one 'sounds pregnant'." She deadpanned. "Here, just start the call."

"Wait, where did you-?" Ruby looked at her scroll in Flora's hand. "Give that back!"

"Just let me…" Flora quickly cycled the contacts list and hit 'big sis'. "There you go!" She threw it back.

Ruby barely caught it and held it to her ear, hoping she would just get voicemail. "Ruby!" Was the shout she heard instead.

"Ow, my ear…" Ruby whined into the phone.

"Sorry, sis… I just miss you. How are you?" Yang asked excitedly.

"I'm… doing better, Yang. I really am." Ruby smiled.

"So… does that mean you're coming home soon?" Yang sounded hopeful.

Ruby was quiet for a few moments. "Uhh… I actually kind of fell into the middle of some stuff… hehe, you know how I am. Things get crazy out here in the real world. I thought our life at Beacon was crazy…"

"To be fair, I don't think most students take the charge against an extremist terrorist group." Yang pointed out. "What's going on? Maybe we can help?"

"We?" Ruby asked.

"Weiss, of course." Yang said as if it were obvious.

"You're hanging out with Weiss? You hate each other." Ruby was confused.

"Umm… Sis, didn't you send Blake and Ren after us that day you exploded at us?" Yang asked her.

"Send who? No… I thought you guys just thought things over and decided to play nice for those last few days…" Ruby answered. "What are you saying?"

"Weiss and I are dating." Yang confessed.

Ruby smiled. "It's about time. I'm glad." Ruby's smile faltered. "So… have you heard from Blake?"

"Not yet… she went back home for a while." Yang answered. "So… about you coming home…?"

"It… will still be a while." Ruby told her. "Like I said, I kinda fell in the middle of something. But I can handle it! You and Weiss enjoy yourselves! I'll talk to you again soon. I promise."

Ruby could almost hear Yang smile. "I look forward to it sis. You take care."

"I will." Ruby's smile held as she hung up.

"Told you~" Flora teased.

"Shush."

* * *

Back in Atlas, Yang put her scroll away, smiling. "What's got you grinning like the sunshine?" Weiss teased her.

"You took a while in the bathroom." Yang teased right back. "Don't tell me you're nervous about our… what date is this?"

"Twelfth." Weiss told her. "And why would I be nervous?"

"Oh please. Two months is way more than I needed to wait in my last relationship." Yang said suggestively.

"Did the relationship itself even last two months?" Weiss scolded. "How many have you been in anyway?"

"Umm… I never counted… How about you?" Yang quickly tried to turn it around.

Weiss blushed. "I've been in a few." She said, though Yang noted her voice was a couple of octaves higher. "But only one is important, right?"

Yang saw through it in an instant. First, Weiss had clearly never been in a relationship. Second, Weiss was worried. Even after two months, she was worried Yang was going to just end things. But the blonde knew she wouldn't. When she looked at Weiss, she felt things she never knew existed, let alone knew she could feel. Yang smiled.

"Weiss, I'm going to say something I have never said in any of my other relationships." Yang reached out and grabbed Weiss's hand. Soft leather wrapped around icy flesh. "I… I love you, Weiss. You never have to worry about me leaving."

Weiss blushed even harder. She smiled slowly. "I… Love you too, Yang."

The blondes smile could have set the world on fire.

"In fact…" The heiress continued. "I wanted to ask you something… Having a date whenever you're back from a hunt is nice, but I'd like to know the second your home safe… so…"

"Weiss…?" Yang's eyes went wide. "Are you…?"

"I'm asking… if you would do me that kindness by sharing a home." Weiss barreled through.

Yang smiled. "So you were in the bathroom for nerves."

Weiss started growing frustrated, and blushed even harder. "Damn it you blonde brute! Just answer the question."

Yang giggled. "But you're soooo cute when your flustered."

"Urrrrrgh…."

"In fact, you're cute all the time." Yang flirted. "And I would love your cute face to be the first thing I see in the mornings."

Weiss looked back up. "So is that a…?"

"Yes."

Weiss's smile now rivaled Yang's. "So… when can you move in?"

"Like you don't have people on standby to move me in within the hour." Yang deduced.

Weiss sighed. The blonde always saw right through her. "Let me just call them up, then."

"Congratulations." A voice approached that they both knew. The pair turned and saw…

"Blake!" Yang called out. "You're here! How did you find us?"

"People in Atlas start watching when Weiss Schnee walks by." Blake pointed out. "I hope you know what you're getting into, Yang."

"Trust me, I know. But it's worth the risk." Yang smiled.

"Must you turn everything into a joke?" Weiss lightly scolded.

"Your smile tells me 'yes'." Yang teased some more.

"God, you two should have gotten together ages ago." Blake smiled. "Anyway, I came because I wanted to ask… Have either of you heard from Ruby?"

"Not yet." Weiss answered.

"Actually…" Yang confessed. "While you were in the bathroom, I got a call from her."

"What? And you wait until now to tell me!?" Weiss shouted. "How is she?"

"I think we were talking about important stuff there, Weissy. And she said she's doing fine." Yang told them.

"So she'll be home soon?" Blake asked, hopeful.

It's hard to kill a smile on Yang Xiao Long. But she didn't like seeing her friends hurting either, and she knew how Blake would react to the answer. "She said… she got in the middle of something that's keeping her out."

"Where is she? Maybe we can help?" Blake reached out.

"She didn't tell me. She said not to worry, she could handle it." Yang passed along. "Look, Blake, she told me she's doing better, and I believe her. She said she'd call again. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before she calls you."

"I hope…." Blake lamented. "I really do…. So, you need any help moving Yang in?"

"I've already hired a moving company, though they'll just send the stuff in boxes to the front door of Schnee Manor." Weiss told her. "I highly doubt they're good enough to decorate to both of our tastes. We need to put stuff up ourselves."

"Which could get kinda rough with us two, huh?" Yang admitted.

"Then you need a mediator?" Blake asked.

"If you wouldn't mind of course." Weiss nodded.

"I don't. Hm, I wonder if it will be the first time a free faunus has stepped foot in Schnee Manor?" Blake wondered aloud.

"Father must be furious already, even if he doesn't know why yet." Weiss joked. She looked over to Yang, her good eye catching both of her lover's lilac ones. "Let's go home."

* * *

The months passed quickly. Before Ruby knew it, that fated day had arrived. She was walking through her house, on the phone with Yang, when  _it_  happened.

"So, Weiss and I are going to be holding a 'reunion' in a few months. JNPR, SSSN, even team CVFY is slated to show up. Qrow and dad too." Yang told her little sister. "I was hoping… it's nearly been a year after all."

Ruby thought. The baby would definitely be born by then. She smiled. "Sure!"

"That's great news! I can't wait to see Blake's face!" The blonde paused. "Speaking of, have you spoken to her yet?"

Ruby was about to answer when she felt something trickle down her leg.

"Rubes?"

Ruby stared the stained carpet in horror.

"Hello?"

"IHAVETOGO!" Ruby screamed.

_Click_

_Beep beep beep._

At the clinic, Flora's scroll went off. "Hello?" She answered.

"EMERGENCY!"

"Ruby?"

"EMERGENCYYYYY!"

"Ruby, what is- oh god! I'll be right there!" Flora hung up and turned to see her boss giving her a look.

"Going somewhere?" He asked.

She grabbed him by the shoulders. "Ruby's going into labor!"

His tone changed immediately. "I'll get a room prepped! You go get her!"

Flora rushed back to her house where Ruby had been staying for the last few months. She rushed in to see the redhead lying on the couch, practically screaming. "Oh god, I think that's the horns!"

"Horns?" Flora asked, startled.

"Faunus! Faunus!" Ruby was reduced to single word answers.

"Let's get you out of here!"

* * *

Hours passed. When it was all over, Ruby had passed out. She woke up in the clinic the next day, looking around the room with eyes fogged be anesthetics. "Ugghh…"

"Ruby?" Flora asked by her bedside, a bundle in her arms.

"Flora…? Is that…?" Ruby asked, eying the bundle with fear of what was inside.

"A healthy baby boy…" Flora answered, almost sad. This child was fated for adoption before it was born, and that was never a good thing. Especially since she grew to be close friends with Ruby.

Ruby continued to eye the bundle, and a different feeling came over her. "Can… I see him?"

Flora looked up in surprise. "I thought you didn't want to… that's why you didn't want ultrasound?"

"I guess you can't carry something in you for nine months without becoming curious." Ruby joked.

Flora smiled and walked over to Ruby's bedside. Slowly the blanket's folds gave way to a tiny sleeping figure. The first thing Ruby noticed was the horns. Not as sharp as they felt, just two little black nubs on top of his head. The fuzz on his head was definitely Ruby's hair, but the horns were distracting. All she saw was Adam.

Then it opened its eyes.

Ruby's breath caught in her throat. Deep silver pools stared up at her, a soft hand reaching up as if it  _knew_. And Ruby saw something there, deep in these eyes. Her eyes, in her child. She saw innocence. She saw purity, a light beyond comparison. She fell in love, and she realized something in that moment. There was only one way to ensure this child wouldn't grow up to be Adam. But there was one issue…

"The adoption papers…" Ruby thought aloud. "They're already-"

"They're not filed." Flora revealed. "I never turned them in."

"What?" Ruby asked, looking at her kind friend. "This was your plan, wasn't it?"

"Not from the start." Flora told her. "But the more I got to know you, the more I realized you would be the perfect mother for this child, regardless of the circumstances of his birth. he's still yours, if you want him."

Ruby looked at him again. This decision was huge, and would affect her entire future. But there was another future here that mattered even more. "I will. I'll raise him, to not be his father. This, is my son. And not his."

Flora smiled brightly. "There's only one thing left to do. What is his name?"

Ruby thought it over carefully.  _Rising from my ashes. My bright light, My-_

"Phoenix." Ruby decided. "Phoenix Rose."


	5. Chapter 5

The newly christened Phoenix was in the next room being checked over by the doctor, who was also happy to hear Ruby decided to keep the child. The new mother herself was staring at her scroll. She recalled how she cut short the conversation with Yang yesterday. Her sister would be worried sick, and it had been over a day since then. Flora watched on, worried for the girl. A life-changing decision had been made, one that greatly altered the redhead's plans.

Ruby finally made herself dial Yang's number and held the scroll to her ear.

"RUBY!" Yang screamed into the phone. "What happened!? Are you okay!? What's going on!?"

"Ow, ow! My ear!" Ruby whined.

"Sorry…" Yang apologized in a much quieter tone. "What happened, Ruby? Where did you go yesterday?"

"It was nothing Yang." Ruby told her. "False alarm."

"Oh… Are you sure? Maybe you should tell me where you are… I could come help." Yang pleaded.

"Seriously, Yang, I'm fine." Ruby looked to the door, thinking of Phoenix. She smiled. "I promise."

"Okay… if you say so…" Yang agreed reluctantly.

"Listen, Yang… about the Reunion…" Ruby began, not wanting to say what she had to say.

"Oh… what is it…?" Yang's defeat was evident in her voice. And it killed Ruby. She had promised, and now her sister was hurting because she wouldn't come home.

"It's… um…" Ruby looked around the room and sighed. "I just wanted to know what the exact date was? I didn't get a chance to get it yesterday."

"Oh. Oh! Of course! Hold on, I'll get my calendar!" The blonde had brightened up instantly, and Ruby could hear her rushing around Schnee Manor.

"You have a calendar?" Ruby teased.

"My princess rubs off on me, I guess." Yang answered.

"I'm sure she does." Ruby teased suggestively.

"Since you can't see it, I'm glaring at you." Yang scolded. "Okay, got pen and paper?"

The pair soon hung up and Ruby looked at the date in her hand. "Flora, you've done a lot for me. I don't know how I will ever repay you for what you've already done, but-"

"Yes." Flora cut her off, smiling.

Ruby looked up. "Are you sure?"

"Of course!" Flora smiled. "I'll put in for the time off. You go see your family, and I'll watch little Phoenix when you go."

"Thank you, Flora." Ruby smiled. "I'll find a way to repay you, I promise."

"Don't worry about it." Flora waved her off. "Just tell me… will you tell them?"

Ruby looked back down at the date in her hands. "I don't know, Flora. I want to. I want to go back. But what would they think of me? What would they think of Phoenix? I was scared back when my secret wasn't something I chose… But this time it is my choice. And I'm terrified. What if they hate me for it? Hate him…"

"I know you'll do the right thing in the end." The nurse assured her friend. "You've proven today that you're capable of that."

Ruby smiled as the doctor re-entered the room after checking the newborn over. "Perfectly healthy, fit little faunus boy. I guess having a huntress for a mama does wonders." He joked.

The redhead took her child back into her arms. His eyes were closed now, but that's okay. Ruby saw what she needed to see. Even the horns didn't look like Adam anymore. This was her child, and no one else's. In less than an hour, little Phoenix suddenly became the most important thing in her world.

* * *

Yang hung up with a smile on her face. When Ruby brought up the reunion, she was so sure she was going to cancel. Whatever the redhead told them, there was something keeping her away. But she was coming home. Over one year after their graduation, one year since the last time she had seen the woman in person.

"Was that Ruby?"

Yang turned to see Blake approaching. "Blake!"

The faunus's face threatened a smile. "Hello, Yang."

"It's been months. Where have you been?" The blonde asked her friend.

Blake shook her head. "I asked you first. Was that Ruby?"

"Yes." Yang nodded. "Has she still not called you…?"

Blake cast her eyes to the ground. "To answer your first question, I've been looking everywhere for her. But no one seems to have seen her, from the top of Anima to the farthest reaches of Vacuo…"

Yang didn't know what to say. She assured her partner nearly five months ago that Ruby's absence from her life should be nearing its end.

"She hasn't even been hunting." Blake continued, taking Yang by surprise. "I looked up her ID number. No bounties have ever been taken by her. How is she surviving? How is she making money? It's like she's dropped off the face of Remnant."

Yang put a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Blake, I don't know what's up with Ruby. Maybe she's still affected by what happened to her. but I know one thing."

Blake turned around, looking Yang in the eye. "What?"

"She's coming to the Reunion." Yang smiled. "That's what we were just talking about!"

Amber eyes grew wide in disbelief. "Are you sure!?"

"Positive." Yang nodded, smiling large.

"But… that's almost six months away…" Blake lamented.

"It's also a guarantee." Yang pointed out. "No vague maybe here. Ruby's coming. She promised."

Blake was deep in thought. "Then… I guess you can count this as my RSVP." She announced. "Looks like I'll be there after all."

"I've got to tell Weiss. We might have to prepare our cookie cabinet for Ruby's arrival." Yang joked. "You maybe want to hang out before you go back out?"

Blake's original plan was to catch Yang up then continue searching for Ruby. But if Ruby was going to be in Atlas in six months… "I suppose I can stay in Atlas for another day. Then maybe Menagerie… I haven't seen my parents in a while either."

_Six more months. And then, no more waiting…_

* * *

"So you have everything?" Ruby asked for the millionth time.

"Yes, Ruby." Flora responded patiently.

"Daipers? His food? His bottle? You know when to feed him? Burb him?" Ruby continued interrogating.

"Check, Check, Check, Yes, and Yes." Flora responded with a smile. "For someone who wanted to give him up, you care an awful lot."

"Shush." Ruby scolded. "I just… This is going to be weird. Maybe I shouldn't go… Atlas is a long way away…"

"Ruby." Flora deadpanned, catching the girl's undivided attention. "I'm a registered nurse. I know a thing or two about baby care. Don't worry, Phoenix is fine with me. Besides, you  _need_  to see your family."

"Right. Right, I know." Ruby nodded. "His bedtime is-"

"I know." Flora giggled. "And I know he gets cranky without Beo in his crib." She assured, referring to Phoenix's stuffed Beowulf doll.

"Right…" Ruby took a deep breath, looking at her child. "I'm sorry… After six months… it's strange to be away from him. I can't help but worry."

"I understand." The nurse nodded. "And you have my scroll number. I have yours, but it won't matter, because everything will be fine."

"Right…" Ruby shook off her nerves and smiled. "Mommy will only be gone for a day, 'kay Nix!? She'll be back before you know it, and she'll miss you every second she's away!"

Phoenix looked up at his mother and smiled a big open mouth smile. Ruby could see one little tooth that had nipped her last night. "Gotta watch out for that dagger in the future… I'm still sore…"

"Don't forget your locket!" Flora reminded her.

"Oh yeah!" Ruby rushed to her room and grabbed the necklace locket she had made. Phoenix's newborn picture was safely concealed inside, and the locket would only open for Ruby's aura. "Thank you, Flora. For everything."

"As always, of course dear. Now hurry along, you don't want to miss your flight!"

"Right!" Ruby picked up her bag and headed to the door. Inside the threshold, she stopped and turned.

"And turn off the mobile once he's asleep, or the bells will wake him up in the middle of the night." Flora cut her off. "Go!"

"Right, sorry! Thank you, Flora! I'll miss you, Phoenix!"

With that, Ruby was finally out the door and on her way to Atlas

* * *

The Reunion was starting to get into full swing. Everybody had arrived and were mingling, some who hadn't seen each other since graduation. Everybody except for one person. Blake looked longingly to the door.

"You okay?" Sun walked up and asked her.

"Hm? Oh, yeah… just waiting." Blake answered.

"Who else is coming?" Sun asked, looking around the room.

"Ruby." Blake smiled.

Sun was stunned. "I thought she was gone-gone?"

"Not anymore." Blake told him.

Outside, Ruby was walking up the steps. After living with Flora in an apartment in Mistral for almost a year, the magnitude of Schnee Manor was intimidating.  _One of my friends owns this place?_  Ruby thought for a moment that she was in the wrong line of business. She looked around and felt her nerves rise again. She pulled out her locket and looked at the picture. It turned out to be a mistake, because that only made her want to go home and see the real Phoenix. She shook it off and forced herself up the last few steps.

The crowd inside was chattering pleasantly, but things paused when there was a knock at the door. Those who knew Ruby was coming got excited, while the rest just stared in confusion. Yang ran up to the door and opened it. The first thing that struck her was that Ruby had changed. Not really physically, but she seemed to glow in a way she hadn't before…

The blonde broke into a huge smile. "Rubes!" She drew her into a crushing hug. "Oh my god, Ruby! I missed you  _sooooooo_  much! I'm so glad you're home!"

Ruby inhaled her sister's scent and smiled. "I missed you too Yang…"

Next was Weiss to walk up. She looked Ruby over. The redhead seemed somehow more mature and less put together at the same time. "I believe we asked you to come back soon." Weiss pointed out. "A whole year is not 'soon'."

"Sorry…" Ruby looked to the ground.

Weiss smiled. "Never mind that, though. It's good to have you back."

Ruby looked up and grinned.

By now the shock had worn off and the entire room was bombarding Ruby with questions, many she couldn't really answer. Team JNPR were all there, and even team CFVY had shown up as promised. Taiyang and Qrow had their pieces, but there was one person that the others all stepped away to let her have her own moment with Ruby.

Blake smiled brightly, nearly unable to believe her own eyes after a whole year. "I missed you, Ruby."

Ruby smiled, but Blake's faunus eyes saw something else behind the smile. A sadness of a kind. "I missed you too, Blake." Ruby told her.

_I'll ask her later_. Blake decided, drawing the girl into a deep hug. Ruby hugged back, feeling the warmth of the woman she still loved. "How have you been?"

"I've been getting better Blake." Ruby told her. "I think I might be 'better'."

"Good." Blake smiled brightly.

"What have you been up too?" Ruby asked.

"Hunting. I have a job to do, after all." Blake told her. "I visited my family once or twice. They miss you, too. They wanted to be here, but they didn't like the idea of coming to Atlas."

"I get that." Ruby nodded.

"What have you been doing?" Blake asked. "You haven't been hunting…"

"This and that… odds and ends… it started as just getting away from my life, even hunting. Things kinda snowballed." Ruby told her, not entirely a lie. "How did you know I haven't been hunting?"

"I…" Blake blushed, totally busted. "May have looked up your ID on the Hunter Network… I was worried, and you never so much as messaged me."

Ruby's face fell. "I'm sorry… I just never knew what to say…"

"You're here now." Blake assured her. "That's what matters."

Ruby smiled and turned to the rest, catching up with everyone else. Blake smiled, watching her old girlfriend settle back in to the old groups. For as anti-social as she was, she was a natural in a crowd, as long as she wasn't thinking about being in a crowd.

* * *

Nearly everyone had stayed the night, and were given separate rooms. Blake was one of those people. But she realized sleep would be futile when she woke up after a heated dream. It recalled the first time Ruby and Blake held each other intimately, in the second semester of their third year in RWBY dorm back at Beacon. Somehow, they had gotten the room to themselves for a night, and it was the start of their sexual relationship.

And the dream was vivid as all hell, too. It was getting Blake flustered, and she was really wishing she and Ruby had gotten the same room to begin with.  _Ruby… she stayed the night too._  Blake smiled seductively and came up with a plan. She got up, took off everything under her yukata, and made her way through the halls, following Ruby's scent. She was soon standing in front of Ruby's room wearing nothing but her yukata.

She was going to pick the lock with a bobby pin in her hair, but her faunus ears heard movement inside. A lot of movement, too much for someone who was asleep. She smiled a little bigger. This would be easier than she thought. She knocked on the door and struck a pose. All movement stopped inside. For a while, all Blake heard was her heartbeat. She was beginning to think she made a mistake. She broke her pose as the door began cracking open.

A silver eye poked out of the crack, and settled on the faunus. Blake heard a sigh and the door opened the rest of the way. "Hello, Blake." Ruby greeted, though she didn't sound too happy.

And Blake saw why. "Ruby, are you packing?"

"Yes, I am." Ruby confessed.

"Why?" Blake asked, drawing her sleep wear close around her. Suddenly, she wasn't feeling so horny.

"Because I wanted to avoid this." Ruby told her.

"Avoid what?" Blake kept questioning.

"Questions I can't answer." Ruby answered.

"Can't answer… You're leaving." Blake realized. "You leaving right now. You weren't going to be here when any of us woke up, were you?"

"That was the plan." Ruby nodded, fiddling with a necklace Blake didn't recognize.

"Why? Ruby, I thought you were here to stay?" Blake frowned.

"I never said I would stay. I only said I would come to the Reunion." Ruby pointed out. "Everyone jumped to that conclusion on their own."

Blake was quiet for a moment. "Why?" She eventually asked.

Not quite the question Ruby was expecting. But she was still able to use the response she had planned. "It's been a year. Things have happened, Blake. I have a life that's been growing in the past year, and I need to get back to it. Without starting an argument with everybody."

Blake thought for a few moments. "Can't I go with you?"

Ruby had two visions at that moment. Two pictures of her future. One was a fantasy, where she had a full and loving family. Her, Phoenix, and Blake. But the other one was a nightmare… One where Blake hated the sight of Phoenix, and shunned Ruby. The young mother had similar visions of all her friends and families, giving form to her fears. She didn't want to lose them forever… but she knew she could never give up Phoenix. Not now.

Ruby sighed. "I wish I could Blake. Out of everyone… I wish I could. But I can't."

"Why not?" Blake asked, tears flowing freely. She had chased this woman, saved herself for this woman, continued loving this woman, for an  _entire year_!

Ruby was on the verge of confessing. But she was also afraid of losing what little friendship could remain between the two of them should Blake take it badly. "I… I can't say." Ruby settled.

"Ruby… Please…" Blake began to beg. "All I want… All I've wanted… Just stay here… or take me with you…"

"I'm sorry, Blake… but I can't." Ruby turned away so Blake wouldn't see her own tears. It was futile. Her faunus senses noticed the change is Ruby's mood, the subtle scent of tears that were not her own. But there was nothing else to say. Ruby quietly gathered her things and made her way to the door.

Hours passed, and Yang bounded out of bed, excited to start a new day with her sister. She practically ran all the way to the door, and threw it open. When she saw an empty room, she worried. When she saw a note, Ruby's goodbye, she was panicking. And when she noticed Blake, who had curled into the covers of Ruby's bed and cried herself to sleep, she suddenly felt just as depressed. Yang walked back to the note and read…

_Yang_

_I'm sorry I'm not here. You were all expecting me to stay, and that just makes this harder… I have to go. I have things I have to do, important things. Don't worry, I'm fine. I just have my own things going on now, my own life. I only left like I did because I didn't want to start an argument. If you're mad at me regardless, I understand. All I can tell you is, I'll be in touch soon. And that I'm sorry I couldn't stay._

_I love you all,_

_Ruby_


	6. Chapter 6

Ruby woke at three AM to the call of duty. Or maybe the 'call of doody', depending on what Phoenix was crying over now. She sat up and yawned deeply, making her way to her baby's room.  _Okay, room smells okay. No puking, no diaper changes… I fed him… There's Beo… wait._  Ruby looked up and realized she forgot to turn off the mobile. With a frown, she hit the switch and picked Phoenix up, rocking him slowly.

"Shhh… Shhh… Everything's fine, Nix… Maybe tomorrow mommy will go and pick up a new mobile that doesn't jingle in the night…" Ruby thought to herself.

Phoenix was almost asleep when her scroll went off in her pocket, waking him up again and making him resume crying. Ruby whipped out her scroll.

"Yang? What the hell do you want at this hour?" Ruby grumbled. "Phoenix was almost down…" Ruby almost hit send, but froze. Phoenix was still crying, and Yang would hear. With a sigh, she set the scroll down on silent and finished easing her child back to sleep. She slipped onto the kitchen balcony her apartment had soon after to make the call without disturbing Phoenix again. She dialed and waited. "Hello, Yang."

"Ruby! You sound sleepy… Did I wake you…? Is it night where you are?" Yang asked.

"I was already up…" Ruby told her. "Just in the middle of something."

"You won't tell me what that something is, will you?" Yang deduced.

"How is everybody…?" Ruby countered. "I bet they aren't taking my leaving well…"

"You could have at least said goodbye…" Yang lamented. "When's the next time I get to see you?"

Ruby looked toward her home, thinking of the baby within. "I don't know, Yang. I'm pretty busy right now."

"Doing what?" Yang asked.

Ruby thought hard on how to answer. She was tired of avoiding questions outright, be she didn't want to lie through her teeth either. "I work at a small clinic right now." Ruby told her, not needing to tell her she was off shift. "I just didn't want to go back out and fight right away. And right now, I'm kinda stuck there."

"Oh. That's cool." Yang was slightly happier. Ruby talking about her life was more progress than Yang had seen in a year. "You making any friends?"

"There's a nurse there, Flora Nightgale." Ruby answered. "Closest thing I have to a friend out here."

"You ever going to start hunting?" Yang asked cautiously.

"Maybe in a few years… Little busy at the moment, like I said." Ruby told her. It was in fact something she was seriously thinking about. "Hey Yang… How is Blake?"

"Blake? Ummm…" Yang sounded nervous. "She's… not good. Truth is, some of us were readying ourselves to argue for you to stay. She's one of the ones who was convinced it wasn't necessary."

Ruby fell quiet. She had thought she had gotten over her feelings for her faunus friend. But seeing her in person only made those feelings return in force.

"I'm going to let you get back to work. I'll talk to you soon, Ruby." Yang told her. After a short pause, she added, "If you are ever ready to come home, you know where we live."

"Thank you, Yang…" Ruby nodded. "I love you."

"I love you too."

The pair hung up, and Ruby decided to try and finish a night's rest.

* * *

There was another person who couldn't get sleep so easily. Fidgeting in her bed at an Atlesian motel, Blake Belladonna fought for sleep. It didn't come, and her night time failures were interrupted by a knock at the door. She argued silently with herself about whether to go and answer or not. After nearly five minutes, she decided to see if the person was still there. She opened the door to a familiar face. "Sun?"

"Hey, Blake." Sun greeted. "Just wanted to check on you."

"What are you doing here?" She asked.

"I just told you…?" Sun answered.

"But why?" Blake pressed.

The monkey boy sighed. "Blake… I respect yours and Ruby's space, but after what happened the other day… I'm just worried about you."

"What are you saying?" Amber eyes searched Sun up and down.  _If this is what I think it is…_

"Nothing…" Sun brushed off. "I'm just checking up on you."

Maybe Blake was pissed at Ruby. Maybe part of her wanted to forget. And maybe part of her wanted Sun. The only thing she knew was that she wasn't sure if Ruby liked her anymore. And that hurt.  _Maybe if I can make the hurt go away, I can sleep…_

"What if I told you… Me and Ruby don't have space anymore?" Blake asked him.

"What do you mean…?" Sun asked, not daring to sound hopeful.

"She never even messaged me, for a whole year." Blake pointed out. "And when she did come back, it was just for one day. And she told me I couldn't follow her to wherever she was going…"

"Blake…?"

"Just tell me, Sun… What is this?" Blake trapped his gaze with her own.

"I… I like you Blake. I have for a long time. And I was sure you did, once upon a time… before Ruby…" Sun explained.

"I see." Blake nodded, and smiled.

Whatever the result would be, Blake wasn't worried. She didn't even believe she was cheating on anybody,  _because I'd have to be in a relationship for that_. She just pulled Sun into the room and crushed their lips together. Sun was on cloud nine, all of his dreams coming true. And Blake just wanted to dream…

* * *

The next morning Blake woke up to the inviting smell of tea, and opened her eyes slowly. She had finally managed to get to sleep, and even avoided dreaming of Ruby. She smiled when she saw Sun holding out a paper cup for her. "Where did you get this?" Blake asked him.

"Café up front." Sun answered.

"They sell to faunus?" Blake was surprised.

"Weiss has already undone a lot of damage in a year." Sun informed her. "Maybe if you stuck around, you would learn a lot…"

Blake was immediately defensive. "What does that mean?"

Sun tensed up, and sighed. "Blake… last night was great… but I need to ask… it wasn't a one night thing, was it?"

Blake looked at the cup in her hands, thinking. She knew she still loved Ruby. But she didn't know if Ruby loved her… when was the next time she was even going to see her? Another whole year? She looked back to Sun with her mind open to the possibility… "I'll give you a chance, Sun… I owe you that much." Blake nodded, feeling the ashes of the ancient flame from the first time she met him start to glow again.  _At the very least, I could forget Ruby…_

Sun smiled. "Thank you."

"Just know… we begin now. Last night was something I really needed, but it won't happen again until you earn it." Blake reminded him.

"I figured. So let's start tonight? Dinner?" Sun asked her.

"Sure." Blake nodded. "I'll see you then."

Sun left, and Blake laid back down to get a few more winks of sleep. Again, it was peacefully dream-less.

* * *

Yang was waiting patiently. She had discovered a sort of schedule of when Ruby called her. Whether the redhead knew it or not, Yang could more or less anticipate when her sister would call, and it was nearing the end of that cycle. Her scroll buzzed, and she answered quickly. "Heya, Rubes!"

"Hi Yang! Sorry I meant to call sooner…" Ruby greeted.

"It's fine." Yang smiled. "Things busy at the clinic?"

"Yeah… We got swamped today. A car hit a cyclist just outside." Ruby vented. "The car was only going 5, but the cyclist was still injured. Thank god it wasn't life threatening…"

"Sounds tough… so do you actually like, work on people?" Yang asked.

"I'm in the rooms more and more for minor stuff, but I'm mostly behind a desk." Yang told her.

"You? Behind a desk?" Yang was amazed. "How the hell do you let all your energy out?"

 _Phoenix has been draining me of most my energy…_  "After work, I do runs with Flora and stuff like that." Ruby told her.

"I see… So, what is it with Flora?" Yang asked.

"What do you mean?" Ruby pouted.

"I mean… Ruby, are things okay between you and Blake?" Yang asked.

Ruby was quiet for a long time. "I don't think there is anything going on between me and Blake right now…"

"Oh… Alright…" Yang sounded thoughtful.

"Why do you ask?" Ruby caught that there must have been a reason for the out-of-the-blue question.

The blonde sighed. "I saw her with Sun the other day. She looked happy. I was just making sure she wasn't… y'know… but if nothing is going on between you two, then I guess we can't say anything."

"She's with Sun…?" Ruby asked, feeling her heart sink. "She's happy…?"

"Yeah…" Yang didn't miss the tone of her sister's voice.

"I see…" Ruby thought to her child in the next room.  _Maybe this is for the best…_  "Good for her." She tried to sound happy.

"So, when are you coming out next?" Yang asked, as she always did.

"I don't know Yang…" Ruby answered the same as she always did.

"I see… Well, I gotta go. I talk to you soon." Yang promised. "Goodbye."

"Talk to you later." Ruby smiled. "Bye…"

Yang hung up and looked across the room to where Weiss was currently on a business call. She strode across the room and waited for her to finish.

She hung up and turned. "What's up? Did Ruby say anything?"

"Weiss, I think we should make the Reunion an annual thing." Yang told her.

Weiss studied her girlfriend. "You think it's the only way to get Ruby back down here?"

"Once a year is better than never." Yang shrugged. "It's all I can think of right now. Until I think of something better…"

"I'm fine with it." Weiss smiled. "Besides, I think it would be good. All our friends have such different lives. I was thinking about doing it anyways."

"Alright." Yang smiled. "Now I wait…"

"She'll be okay, Yang." Weiss assured. "And one day she'll be ready to stay. She can't keep away forever."

"I hope you're right, Weiss." Yang nodded. "I hope you're right."

* * *

Ruby spent the next two weeks thinking about nothing but Blake. Even at work or when taking care of Phoenix, the cat-eared cutie was always somewhere in her mind. She supposed she only had herself to blame for losing her to Sun… she hasn't exactly been attentive of the faunus woman. They had spoken one time in over a year, and Ruby was pretty sure she went to her room in Schnee manor that night to engage in some very specific activities.

Flora was taking the news slightly different since she got Ruby to confess. "Oh, I met this wonderful guy at the supermarket the other day! And apparently, he has a thing for redheads."

"Seriously, Flora?" Ruby stared incredulously at quite possibly the only friend she had left. "Please stop."

"I'm just saying… He was rather cute." Flora insisted.

"I have enough to worry about without dating on top of it. Besides, I'm not into guys." The redhead harshly reminded her.

"It was just a suggestion…" Flora mumbled.

Ruby shook her head and let it go. That was the third 'suggestion' this week, and Ruby wasn't looking forward to hearing any others. "How is this afternoon looking?"

Flora frowned, but followed Ruby's lead and dropped the previous conversation. "Not too busy, actually. You've already put in enough extra hours. You should go home and spend time with Phoenix."

"You think so?" Ruby asked her. "I need the extra money though… rent is higher than I thought it would be."

"There is always something else you can do… something that pays  _way_ more." Flora suggested.

"And leave Phoenix at home for weeks at a time?" Ruby argued.

"Doing something you love, upholding an oath you swore to protect?" Flora countered.

"Putting myself in constant danger?" The redhead continued resisting.

"Protecting Remnant." Flora stated.

"Chancing that I may not come back home to him?" The woman scolded, thinking on her own mother. "I won't do that to him."

"You'll be protecting the world he'll grow up in." Flora remained steadfast. "I'm sure one day he will be proud of his warrior momma."

"I won't put him through that…" Ruby resisted.

"Ruby…" Flora put her hand on hers. "I know it's what you dreamed of doing your whole life. I know you want to do it now. I know you're worried about your son, and that's natural. But you do need the money, and honestly, you need the adventure. I see you fidgeting behind the desk, you're not for this place. You belong out there, protecting Remnant… Protecting him."

"And if I die protecting Remnant?" Ruby asked her.

"You'll die defending him. And I will make sure he grows up knowing how brave his mother was." Flora assured. "But it won't happen. Because you will struggle through and come home, back to him. I know you, Ruby Rose."

Ruby sighed. "You'll watch him while I'm away?"

"Of course I will." Flora smiled.

The redhead smiled back. "After everything I've done… how do I deserve a friend like you?"

"Everything you've done in the past year has been to protect a child and his innocent soul." Flora told her. "I think the universe forgives a few broken hearts."

"Even mine?" Ruby joked.

"Even yours." The nurse replied. It wasn't a joke.

"Thank you, Flora. For everything." Ruby hugged her. "I better go prepare. I may be a bit rusty…"

"I'll be along after my shift." Flora nodded. "You're doing the right thing Ruby."

"It's all I try to do…" Ruby muttered, thinking once again about a faunus named Blake Belladonna.


	7. Chapter 7

Today was one of those rare days where Yang was in Atlas and Weiss wasn't. As a huntress, it was usually the blonde who would spend anywhere from a few days to a week away from her princess, but she had no contracts lined up and Weiss told her she had a last-minute business trip, and left the night before. Schnee Manor wasn't as cold as it used to be, as Weiss had the entire interior remodeled to have a more 'homey' feel, bit it was still very large and very empty without the CEO there. So, Yang decided to spend her morning catching up with Blake. With two decided to meet at a cute coffee shop near the Manor.

"It's weird to be treated like royalty…" Yang noted as a server brought her order to her, even though the blonde had seen everyone else walk up to the counter to pick up their drinks.

"YANG XIAO LONG!"

The blonde dropped her coffee when she heard that voice. She spun around to face it. "RUBY!"

The two sisters crashed into each other, going for their hug. "Ruby! What are you doing here!? How did you find me?"

"Yang, you can't exactly hide up here like the rest of us. Everyone in this town knows you're Weiss Schnee's fiancée. They start to watch when you walk by."

"I guess you have a point there…" Yang admitted, rubbing the back of her head.

"Speaking of…" Ruby grabbed Yang by the shoulders. "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME YOU GOING TO PROPOSE!?"

"Well… umm… it's a rather recent development…"

"Recent? Yang, I spoke to you on the phone just a few weeks ago. Either you've been thinking about it since then, or you didn't do it right." Ruby scolded. "Actually, knowing you…"

"Hey! Give me a little more credit than  _that_!" Yang crossed her arms. "I was thinking about it when we last talked… but at the time I was in the 'is this too early, do I really want to do this' stage of thinking."

"Hmph. I guess that makes sense." Ruby pouted. "Still had to learn it through tabloids."

"I'm sorry, okay?" Yang told her. "Besides, it's not like you're around for me to just call you up." Yang put her hand over her mouth. "I'm sorry, that came out wrong…"

"No, you're right." Ruby lamented. She started to absentmindedly fiddle with a strange necklace Yang didn't recognize. "So I guess I don't need to ask how things are going?"

"They're going great." Yang replied, happy to get away from that conversation… for now. "In fact, we're going to hold another reunion. We're making it annual."

"I see… I'll be there, then." Ruby smiled, pleasantly surprised Yang dropped the topic.

"Good." The blonde nodded. "Will you stay this time?"

"Yang, I-"

"The night!" Yang quickly interrupted. "I meant stay the night! I mean, that too, but we can cross that bridge later…"

Ruby thought for a moment. "I'll stay the night Yang. I'll say goodbye properly this time. I promise."

_Little by little…_  Yang thought to herself. "So… what brings you to Atlas, anyway? What about the clinic?"

"Flora convinced me to start hunting again. You were right Yang. I can't handle being behind a desk very well." Ruby smiled.

"Are you sure there's nothing between you and Flora?" Yang asked. "And what about her?"

"Flora is a good friend, but just a friend, Yang." Ruby deadpanned. "And I still plan on dropping by once in a while. Like I'm doing here, now."

"So you're between contracts? How long?" Yang asked.

"Actually, I have to go in just a few minutes. I got myself on a boat to Vacuo by taking payment as a one-time guard." Ruby explained.

"Vacuo's your next big hunt?" Yang asked.

"Yup. Then maybe a few weeks off…" Ruby contemplated. "I've taken on a ton of contracts in the last two weeks."

"Will… you come back here for your time off?" Yang attempted.

Ruby shook her head, playing with her necklace again. "I don't think so. I do have other things to take care of still."

Yang frowned. "But that many contracts… you really need that kind of money, living as you are?"

"I really should head off soon." Ruby cut Yang off. She was starting to ask too many questions.

"Oh…" Yang shifted awkwardly. She spotted what looked like a shadow slipping around the corner, and remembered why she came to the coffee shop in the first place. "Ruby… do you still like Blake?"

Ruby turned back, surprised. "What makes you ask that?"

"I just… felt curious, I guess." Yang answered cautiously.

Ruby hung her head low. "I try to convince myself I don't… I mean, if she's with Sun right now, it's better that way. But when I saw her at the Reunion a few months back… It was almost like… my feelings were stronger than ever. I don't know how…"

"Even when Weiss and I hated each other, we could at least agree you two were meant to be." Yang reminisced. "Hove you spoken to her at all since…?"

"Yang… I really do have to go, or I'll miss my boat." Ruby told her sister. It was a convenient truth. "I love you. If I don't see you soon, I'll call you when I can."

"I love you too, Rubes…" Yang tried to be cheery. "See you soon."

The two embraced again, then Ruby left. Yang watched her leave, and sighed. "Did you hear all that?"

Blake walked out from around the corner to answer, "I did…"

"And? What are you going to do?" Yang asked.

"What do you mean?" Blake asked. "I'm with Sun now."

"So you don't love Ruby anymore?" Yang accused.

"I mean… Yang, this isn't easy… in fact, you just made it that much harder…" Blake scolded. "I'm just getting into a good place with Sun."

Yang played with her hair nervously. "I'm sorry… I just want to see you two happy…"

"I am happy." Blake told her. "With Sun."

"Are you?" Yang asked.

Blake stalled up. "Yang… I can't do this right now… I better just go."

"Wait, Blake!" Yang called out. "I'm sorry… we can still have a nice lunch…"

"My mind won't be here." Blake shook her head. "You've given me far too much to think about just now. I'll take a raincheck. I'm sorry."

Yang frowned as she watched her friend walk away. She was hoping this surprise visit could be turned into a blessing. But now, Yang could see she only caused more chaos in the hearts of her best friend and her sister.

* * *

A week and a half later, Ruby was walking up the steps to her apartment. Hidden away between the 'Nice' and 'Not so Nice' parts of the district, she wasn't likely to be found here, even if she did end up becoming a famous huntress. Still far away from the genuinely bad parts of the district, it was the perfect place to raise Phoenix. She found Flora waiting on the porch for her to arrive. "Is Phoenix okay? Why aren't you inside?"

"Phoenix is just fine, dear." Flora smiled. "I just set him to bed."

"Everything go okay? Any problems?" Ruby asked. She had called Flora before her flight to Mistral, of course, but anything could happen in a few hours, right?

"Everything is fine, Ruby." Flora laughed. "Phoenix is resting. You should too. You look weary."

"I am kinda beat…" Ruby nodded. "Maybe just one peek in his nursery, then I'll head to bed." Flora nodded and the girls went inside.

Ruby smiled as she looked over Phoenix. The red fuzz that was his hair was starting to thicken out and he had more teeth by the day. Ruby had completely weaned Phoenix by now anyways, so the start of her Huntress career wouldn't interrupt that. She also noticed his horns started to grow and sharpen out already, making her wonder if they needed some kind of special care or trimming, like fingernails except they were on his head.

After nearly a month without seeing him, she didn't even want to leave to sleep. Flora had anticipated this, and helped draw Ruby to her own bed. She stayed the night to handle any baby duties so the young mother could get a full night's rest. Flora found herself smiling at the little situation she helped create. She had a new friend, and convinced her to be the mother Phoenix deserved. If only this family could be complete… but Ruby had made it clear she didn't want to date.

_But is she really 'too busy'? Or is she still holding on to her feelings for her old friend?_

* * *

With how complex the rest of her life was, between hunting, her family, and her old friends, Ruby was happy to experience days where it was just her and Phoenix, sitting at home. Television was an easy way to distract little Phoenix. He didn't care much for what was going on screen as long as it was bright and colorful. The mother couldn't stand 'children's programming' and instead turned on an old cartoon meant more for teenagers. She could follow the plot, and Phoenix could be enamored by the pictures. "So wait… is the guy with the burn an jerkface or not…?" Ruby idly wondered. "Seems a little justified by now if you ask me."

By now, she could focus more on the show as her hands worked on autopilot to file Phoenix's horns down. She did a little research shortly after her first Hunt on faunus with horns and antlers, and it seemed these appendages did require special care. The rate was usually different, and Phoenix was in the extreme, requiring weekly trimming so his horns wouldn't get too big for his infant head. Once he was older, she could let them grow out a little, but baby-Phoenix was still too small and fragile at the moment. This, of course, required a special file meant specifically for a horned faunus. Thankfully the Huntress money helped with that.

Ruby heard the lock open on the door, and a moment later Flora entered carrying a bunch of groceries. "I noticed your fridge was a little light." She announced.

"You don't have to do that, Flora. I started hunting again for a reason." Ruby reminded her. "But thank you."

"Of course! Besides, you never know when you need more~!" The nurse replied in a singsong voice.

Ruby froze up. "Flora. What does that mean?"

"What does what mean?" Flora asked innocently.

"Damn it, Flora… I already get extra food for when you hang out, which means the only reason I would need more is to entertain a guest." Ruby deduced. "Which, knowing you, is going to turn into you trying to set me up with this someone."

"Oh, come on, Ruby! This one is a girl, an old friend of mine from high school. Can you humor me this once?" Flora begged.

"Why?" Ruby asked her. "Why is it so important to you that I'm with somebody?"

"I just think you're a wonderful person who deserves someone wonderful…" Flora admitted.  _Also, you still seem so hung up on your old friend…_  was the part she kept quiet.

"If you want me to date someone so badly, why haven't you offered?" Ruby asked, remembering Yang's words.

"I'm completely straight." Flora told her. "Except for one 'experiment', which only proved my sexuality to me in the end. In fact…"

"Oh my god, you're setting me up with your trial-lesbian ex." Ruby replied in shocked realization. "Or rather, you're not, because as I've told you, I have enough to worry about without adding a relationship to the mix."

"You wouldn't be complaining if I brought that Blake girl home…" Flora vented under her breath. She didn't think Ruby heard her.

Except the redhead completely froze mid-pass with Phoenix's file. She shook it off. Maybe Flora was right, but if that perfect fantasy somehow became real, she wouldn't need to build a relationship with Blake. "I assume you already invited this mystery girl over?"

"I've told her about you, but gave no date." Flora told her.

"You knew I'd say no." Ruby countered.

Flora sighed. "I did… part of me hoped, but… I didn't want to get any of our hopes up. Hence the extra food, but no girl."

"If you need to get rid of this extra food, I don't mind you inviting her over when you next watch Phoenix while I hunt." Ruby informed her friend. "Just don't expect me to take her to dinner myself."

"I got it. And thank you." Flora nodded. "Well, you'll be happy to hear that after this failure, I've decided to pressure you no longer. It seems to only be reinforcing your decision to stay single. I guess you just have to want to date on your own…"

"It took you this long to figure that out?" Ruby asked with a smile.

"Flora here was always a romantic." A voice announced from the doorway. Ruby turned to see a rather tall, dark haired woman. She wore a suit with no tie and the top few buttons of her undershirt undone. She wore a pistol on her hip and a badge on her lapel. "She was always trying to set me up whenever I was single. Unfortunately, it worked from time to time."

Ruby glared at Flora with full-forced accusation. She was immediately defensive. "I swear I didn't invite her over! I didn't even tell her where you lived!"

"I followed her." The mystery woman explained. "I half-figured this was her failing to set someone else up, and had to be sure. It kinda sucks… you  _are_  really cute."

Ruby flushed red. "T-thank you."

"Cute kid. Who's is it?" She asked, inviting herself in.

Ruby looked again to Flora suspiciously. "I thought you told her about me?"

The girl looked to Flora, who very quickly became interested in putting her groceries away. "So it's yours. She said you were full-on gay, not bi."

"It's a bit more complicated than that…" Ruby admitted. "I'm sorry. I'm sure you're great, but I just don't want to date at the moment."

"Hey, I understand." The woman defended, sitting on the couch next to Ruby. "Though I hope this doesn't stop us being friends. A friend of Flora's is a friend of mine, after all. And I honestly, truly promise to never try and set you up with my 'trail-lesbian ex'."

"You… heard that?" Ruby gulped, slightly embarrassed.

"Don't worry." The girl laughed. "It's not inaccurate. I like this show." The dark haired woman changed topics quickly and bluntly, not bothering to use a segue. "Burn guy isn't a dick forever."

"I knew it!" Ruby fist pumped in victory.

"What's his name?" The woman asked.

"The character?" Ruby asked in confusion.

"The kid, dunce." The woman clarified. Thankfully, Ruby could hear the word 'dunce' was used endearingly.

"Phoenix." Ruby answered. "What's  _your_  name?"

"Ash." The girl nodded. "You might want to focus on the left horn a little before he gets unbalanced."

"Oh, right!" Ruby moved the file to the left horn. "Thank you." The situation was catching up with Ruby, her mind truly realizing that a second person was in this house and making themselves at home, with no real invitation.  _But if Flora trusts her… maybe that's just this girl's quirks._

"See? You two are getting along…" Flora mentioned from the kitchen.

"Not gunna happen, Flo. Nice try." Flora's friend cut her off. "Seriously, if you can get Flo to stop playing Matchmaker, you'll succeed where I have failed for  _years_."

Ruby found herself laughing. "You know, since you were the one to bring a guest in,  _Flo_ ," Ruby teased, "It's only right you cook dinner tonight. Make that extra food come in handy."

A heavy sigh emanated from the kitchen. "Fine…"

Ruby smiled. So she wasn't going to date Flora's friend, but she was right about one thing. It didn't have to stop Ruby from simply making Ash a new friend regardless. Besides, Flora was right about other things, too… things that were arguably the root of the nurse's determination in getting Ruby a girlfriend. Even if Ruby was in a place where she was comfortable building a new relationship, she wasn't sure she could honestly give herself to another. Not while taking care of Phoenix. And certainly not while Blake still held a special place in her heart.


	8. Chapter 8

Ruby was in her home in Mistral, browsing the Hunter Network for contracts. Her bank account was telling her it was time to make more money, and with excellent timing too. With a clever little feature called 'holding' she could essentially reserve a contract. She was basically promising she would fulfill it, but saying she couldn't start right away. It was useful for lining up multiple contracts in a row, or in Ruby's case, lining up an excellent reason to leave the Reunion tomorrow without raising questions.

Flora and Ash were busy settling in and helping Ruby prepare for her trip. "So, after Atlas, I'm going to the Forever Fall on a Beacon contract. Seems the grimm presence is a little heavy for students, and they need it quelled to continue holding lessons there."

"Don't they have a ton of Huntsmen on site?" Ash asked.

"They like to outsource jobs like this to provide work for Huntsmen and Huntresses as a whole." Ruby explained.

Ruby walked over to the highchair where Phoenix was waiting for his lunch. She still had a few hours before she had to leave for Atlas. She spent the next twenty minutes entertaining Phoenix with baby-talk and a game of peek-a-boo. Flora and Ash smiled as they watched her. By now Ash knew the story, and had teased Flora about making Ruby keep a 'Child of non-consent', which is a nicer version of what she actually said. Of course, Ruby told her off. Flora didn't force the young mother into anything. Maybe she made the options known, but it was still up to Ruby in the end. Ruby loved Phoenix, and that was that. It proved to Ash what a good mother she was going to be.

"Lunch is ready!" Flora announced, and everybody settled around the table to eat. All in all, it was a pretty normal day, the main exception being Ruby's inevitable departure.

A question had been bugging Ash for the past few weeks. "Why didn't you have a birthday for Phoenix? Didn't he turn one a few months back?"

Ruby more or less anticipated her and Flora asking this eventually. "He's too young to understand what a birthday party means. I'm not a big fan of birthday parties myself. When he's old enough to understand and decide, in school with friends and what not, I'll let him decide what he wants to do, if anything. For now, it's not really something that I'm worried about."

"I guess that makes sense." Ash replied. "I guess it saves you some money, too."

"That, it does." Ruby admitted.

That moment soon came, and Ruby was gathering her bags to leave. "So you guys have everything?" Ruby asked.

"I do believe this makes four times I've babysat for you, the first Reunion and two Hunting trips before this." Flora replied. "I think we all know by now."

"Right." Ruby nodded, throwing her bag over her shoulder. "Take care. I'll see you soon! I love you Phoenix!"

The young redhead was halfway out the door when she heard a new voice. "Mo… Momma…"

The young mother turned back around, dropping the bag where it lay. She rushed back in and took her child's face in her hands. "Momma…"

 _His first words…_  Ruby was ecstatic. With her Hunting trips, she was so worried she wouldn't get to hear his first word. Something else also struck her… The way he said it, Phoenix sounded sad.  _He doesn't want me to leave._

"Momma…"

"I'm sorry, Phoenix…" Ruby lamented. "I have to go… even without seeing my family, I have to take care of us. It's my job." Even if Phoenix couldn't quite understand the words, Ruby hoped he could hear that she wasn't happy to keep leaving him behind.

A small movement, one that came across as a sad nod, was Phoenix's reply. "Momma…" he tugged at her hood.

Ruby didn't even need a moment to think it over. She unclasped her red cloak straight away and draped it around Phoenix. "This is precious to momma. Not as much as you are, of course. But it's a piece of me. Take good care of it, sweetheart." She kissed her child on the forehead and stood back up. Phoenix nestled into the cape like it was a blanket, seeming content. Sad, but content. "I'll be back soon. I promise. I love you."

The young mother went back to her bag and picked it up. Unfortunately, she still had a flight to catch. "You better start recording him. If he walks and I don't at least see a video of it, I will be sorely disappointed." She told Flora.

"As you wish, Ruby." The nurse nodded. "Please, be safe out there."

"As safe as I can be. See ya soon, guys." With that, the door to the apartment shut and Ruby was on her way.

* * *

"Ruby!" Yang was as excited as she always was when she got to see Ruby these days, even if the redhead's presence was expected. "How have you been?"

"I've been good. Stopped by to check on the clinic the other day." Ruby told her.

"To check on Flora?" Yang asked, still trying to see if the two were in some secret relationship.

"No, Yang. In fact, Flora is straight." Ruby told her.

"Really? Did you ask?" Yang continued questioning.

"No, Yang. It came out when she tried to set me up with her trail-lesbian ex." Ruby confessed, glad to finally give Yang a reason to stop asking.

"Tried?"

"And failed."

"I see… Hey, where's your cloak?" Yang just noticed Ruby wasn't wearing the precious item.

"It's safe." Ruby answered. "Just not with me right now."

The guests mingled, consumed half-a-Schnee's-pantry's worth of snacks, and generally enjoyed themselves. They played board games, watched a movie, a few of them played a few video games… It felt just like they were all back at Beacon. Though, admittedly, the dorm was a little larger here.

"So Rubes, you staying the night?" Yang asked while her and Ruby were playing a fighting game. From across the room, Blake's ears perked up.

"The night, yes." Ruby answered.

"And then?" Weiss continued. She knew this was important to Yang, and decided recently to start seriously helping.

"I have to be in Vale by the end of the week." Ruby answered.

"Contract?" Yang asked.

"Yup. Setting a few up after that too." Ruby answered.

"Do you have a place you live? Go whenever you're off?" Weiss asked.

"I figure it out…" Ruby answered uneasily.

"Why do you need that much money if you don't even have a home?" Yang asked next.

"Who says I hunt so much because of the money?" Ruby argued, becoming irritated at the line of questioning.

"Even you would be exhausted by how much you work." Weiss countered.

"Hence the extended times off." Ruby rebutted. "Are you still stalking my completed contracts?" The redhead was glad they couldn't track her holding missions with her ID number.

"Still, maybe you should get a room here." Weiss offered. "I know Yang would sleep easier knowing you're okay…"

"I said I'm fine." Ruby deadpanned, setting down the controller. "I need to go to the bathroom…"

The redhead exited the conversation not-so-gracefully, fuming to herself.  _Why can't they leave me be? I talk to Yang enough… What did they think would happen to me even if I didn't have Phoenix? Hunting was always what I wanted to do. The only reason they really have cause to worry, the only person I'm really distant from at the moment, is Blake…_

"Hey, Ruby!"

Ruby jumped, so consumed in her thoughts that the voice frightened her. "Oh… hey Sun."

"You doing okay? You seem a little angry… That's not something anyone sees often." Sun asked her.

"I'm fine, Sun." Ruby promised. "Is… Blake okay?"

Sun was taken aback by the question. "Umm… Yeah, she's fine. Well, she is now. When you took off again last year it… wasn't pretty."

Ruby's face fell, confirming Sun's sudden suspicion.  _If she still loves Blake, why did she push her away?_  "Well, you keep having fun, Ruby. I'll talk to you later?"

"Sure." Ruby nodded. The monkey faunus walked away, and couldn't help but watch Blake from the corner of his eye. The faunus seemed to be focusing on Ruby from across the room, her eyes betraying conflicted emotion. The impressions Sun got made him frown.

* * *

That night Ruby was very much looking forward to a full night's sleep  _in_  a warm bed. Between Phoenix and her missions, she rarely got both. She wouldn't get her wish. A knocking at her door woke her up, and she turned to the clock to see it read 12 30. "God damn it…" She struggled out of bed and made her way to the door. On the other side was none other than Blake Belladonna.

Ruby was immediately awake and  _very_  aware that they were the only two people within sight. Everyone else in the Manor was likely asleep by now. Ruby crossed her arms. "Come to make sure I'm still here? I promised Yang I'd stay the whole night."

"I heard." Blake nodded. "Ruby, I need to talk to you… can I come in?"

Ruby looked left and right down the hallway again, before sighing. "I guess so."

Blake entered the room and sat at the edge of the bed. With no other seating, Ruby choose to lean against the nearby desk. "What do you want to talk about?"

"What did I do?" Blake asked.

Ruby was confused. "What do you mean?"

"I can't stop thinking… about us… I don't know what happened, Ruby." Blake confessed. "We were amazing. We were together… and then we weren't. I've gone over everything again and again in my head, but I have no idea why we didn't work. The only thing I can think of is… what did I do?"

Ruby's heart seized. Blake thought it was her fault… no wonder she seemed off all day… "It's not your fault Blake…"

"Then why aren't we together?" Blake pleaded, standing up.

Ruby turned to face the wall, away from Blake. She began to fiddle with her necklace. "I swear it's not your fault… There's… something I never told you guys."

Blake thought for a moment before coming to a conclusion. "It's about Adam, isn't it? About that week you were trapped with the Fang."

Ruby nodded slowly.  _Can I really go through with this? Am I going to tell her…?_

Blake seemed to feel some relief, but she also felt anger. "I should have known it had something to do with that monster."

_Monster._

Ruby's grip on her locket tightened.  _Can she see past the 'monster'? Is it even possible at this point? Even if I explain everything… will she ever see him as my son?_ Blake's choice of adjective sealed Ruby's decision. They could still be friends, but not if she couldn't stand the thought of Phoenix.

"Well?" Blake asked cautiously. "What did he do?"

"I've had over two years to get over it." Ruby told her. "I've moved on already, but that doesn't mean I want to talk about it."

Blake turned Ruby back around, her hand resting on the redhead's cheek. Amber eyes pierced Silver, trying to ferret out the truth. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure." Ruby nodded. The pair stood like that for only a few seconds. But to them, it felt like an agonizing eternity. After overhearing the sisters' conversation a while back, Blake knew Ruby still loved her. And seeing Ruby now, being this close… Blake knew she still loved her too. The faunus's lips started to move in, and Ruby broke away, rushing past her old girlfriend. "What are you doing?" The redhead asked her.

"I… hoped it was obvious." Blake answered, having to turn to face Ruby yet again.

"We shouldn't… we can't…" Ruby stepped back until she felt her legs press against the bed.

Blake never stopped her advance. "Says who?"

Ruby couldn't stop staring at those eyes she loved so much. But she couldn't let this continue either… "What about Sun?"

"What about him?" Blake brushed off the appeal to her conscious.

"Blake, I don't think-"

"Ruby." Blake cut the redhead off, and her hand found Ruby's blushing cheeks once more. "Look me in the eyes and tell me you don't want this. Tell me you don't want me, and I'll go."

Ruby was trapped by the amber gaze. Her heart pounded a mile a minute in her chest. She had no idea how this became  _this_  so quickly, but she also knew what her heart wanted. Their lips came together, two years of pent up passion exploding between them. The younger girl was forcefully pushed back, falling onto the bed, and the faunus pounced.

* * *

Ruby eventually returned to her senses after what was likely the most intense, passionate, and powerful sessions of love-making the two had shared thus far. Which, make no mistake, was no small feat. The young mother's locket somehow stayed on her person and completely intact throughout the course of their intercourse. The cold metal on her bare chest reminded her of one of the reasons that, in the redhead's own words, "We shouldn't have done that."

"I happen to think it was perfect." Blake smiled.

The redhead sat up after catching her breath. "You know what I meant, Blake."

"Ruby…" Blake sat up to place a comforting hand on Ruby's shoulder.

"No." The redhead shrugged it off and stood up, leaving the bed. "I mean, god Blake, you're dating Sun!"

"I don't have to be." Blake suggested.

"You can't just…  _We_  can't just do that!" Ruby argued. "It was wrong of both of us…"

"Certainly didn't feel wrong." Blake continued pressing.

"Stop it." Ruby scolded. She couldn't believe she let herself get into this mess… How the hell was she supposed to get Blake to back off now? And Sun? Nothing could justify this, and Ruby was just as guilty.

"Ruby, we can't keep lying to each other. After that, we definitely can't lie to ourselves anymore." Blake pointed out. "What reason is there to not be together again?"

"I can think of one. He has blond hair, blue eyes, and a monkey tail!" Ruby shouted. "I know you Blake… Even if you were mad at me, you wouldn't  _date_  someone if you didn't like them!"

"Maybe I like Sun, but I  _love_  you!" Blake countered. "And I know you love me too."

"That doesn't change the fact that you just  _cheated_  on him." Ruby argued.

"With you." Blake pointed out.

"Yes. With me. I'm just as guilty, and I don't know what to do…" Ruby gripped her head, and started pacing. She was mad. Mad at Blake for cheating on  _anybody_ , and mad at herself for going through with it. "I made it clear from the start. You all know I'm not staying."

"Not even now?" Blake asked. "Why can't I come with you?"

"Because…" Ruby was quiet for a long moment. "I'm scared you would begin to hate me…" she confessed.

"That's ridiculous." Blake shook her head. "What could possibly make me hate you?"

_Monster._

"You'd be surprised." Was all Ruby gave her.

"Ruby, why don't we-"

"You should get back to him… before he wakes up…" Ruby told her faunus lover, not believing what she herself was about to say. "Maybe… we can keep this quiet…"

Ruby tone held both sadness, and finality. A finality that Blake didn't miss. The redhead heard the tell-tale sniff of Blake's own tears starting. "I'm sorry, Ruby…" The faunus redressed and left, intent on a pore-deep shower before returning to bed with her boyfriend. Ruby decided that might be best for her as well. They don't need faunus senses exposing their new secret.

Sleep did not return easily for the redhead. She was amazed she got any at all after that. She was even more amazed that she managed to get through all the goodbyes the next morning without succumbing to the awkward air between her and Blake, especially in front of Sun. Soon, she was on her way to Vale. Ruby couldn't wait until she returned to Mistral. Somehow, raising a toddler she wasn't at all prepared to bear was the least complicated and difficult thing in the young mother's current life.


	9. Chapter 9

Out of curiosity, Ruby did some research on when babies should start talking. After seeing that children are supposed to have their first words within the first ten months, she began to grow worried for her near two-year-old. Why did it take him so long? Was he capable, and just didn't do it?  _I guess he was a quiet child… not a lot of cooing and baby-talk come to think of it._

She also did some research on when a child should start walking. Seeing twelve to eighteen months as the average did little to resolve her worry. He was right in that range, and showed no signs. Was Phoenix underdeveloped? Did he have medical issues? She decided to have a doctor look him over. Flora assured her it was probably nothing, but she wanted to be sure. If there did happen to be a medical problem, she might be able to head it off now.

Ruby went to the clinic where she worked and got the same doctor that helped deliver her child. She waited with Phoenix in her lap for the results to come back. She realized she still held him a lot, and put him down to see what would happen. He stood for a second, but soon flopped on his butt, growing a large goofy grin. Ruby giggled as well, learning a long time ago that Phoenix only flipped out over small things if she did. If she smiled and he still cried, then it was time to worry. The doctor came out shortly after with the scans.

"Well, it seems Phoenix is perfectly fine." The doctor announced happily.

"Then why hasn't he walked yet?" Ruby asked.

"Any number of reasons. As far as bone structure and muscle, it should be well within his capabilities." The doctor thought a moment. "Perhaps he's simply found no reason? Most children try to move around on their own by nature… but it wouldn't be the first time I've seen a child simply decide not to walk, until he's suddenly half way across the room because someone left some sweets out."

"Huh." Ruby looked over Phoenix. "Wait, if that's the case, Nix would have to be smart enough to recognize he doesn't need to move… is it possibly he can be that smart already?"

"Some of the smartest babies come from Huntsmen and Huntress families." The doctor confessed. "Many theorize it has something to do with Aura. Many Huntsmen who come from a long line are more powerful than those who only had recent fighter lineage. Stronger aura, more complex semblances… There are studies being done at this moment. Is the father an Aura user as well?"

"The father… was." Ruby answered hesitantly.

"You never speak of him." The doctor noted.

"I don't." Ruby agreed. "How are things around here since I left?"

"We get along fine without you, don't worry." The doctor smiled. "Just make sure you keep coming back to him, and we'll all be happy."

"Of course, Doc." Ruby smiled in return. "Now," she turned to Phoenix, "let's get home and try to get you walking."

* * *

"Momma!" Phoenix shouted, stumbling across the room, smile as big as the sky. It was a week since Ruby took Phoenix to the doctor. With a little encouragement, Phoenix started walking on his own for the first time. Now he was having the time of his little life, suddenly realizing it was a lot of fun to move on his own. This opened a whole new issue for Ruby now, though.

"Phoenix! Get down from there!" Ruby shouted, her child getting dangerously close to the edge of the side table he had somehow climbed on top of. Ruby was lucky to have a speed semblance, as Phoenix topped right into her arms. "Damn it!"

Of course, all Phoenix knew was that if he fell off something high, his mother caught him, and he treated it like it was his favorite game. "You're a little adrenaline junkie, aren't ya?" Ruby scolded.

Her child only smiled. Then his face changed. "Momma… hungry…" He rubbed his belly.

Ruby wasn't surprised by now that Phoenix knew more words than he said.  _At least he's caught back up where he should be. No more worrying about underdevelopment._  Ruby thought, setting Phoenix down and heading towards the kitchen.  _Now I'm worrying about injuries…_  "Phoenix! What did I say!?"

Phoenix never lost his grin as he tumbled off the couch. This time, he hit the ground. He was surprised, and looked up at his mother who only stood there with crossed arms. Ruby knew that short fall wouldn't seriously injure the now two-year-old, and let him feel that one for himself. "Not so fun now, huh?" Ruby scolded.

Then the crying. Ruby held fast though. She knew he wasn't hurt. "You're not getting out of this so easily, buster."

She continued making Phoenix his lunch, and set it on his high chair. Phoenix had stopped crying by now, realizing it wasn't going his way. She picked him up and set him in his high chair, and quickly set a bunch of thick pillows and cushions on the floor around it. "Now, momma's not going to catch you this time. I have a call to make. Eat your food."

Ruby stepped out onto the balcony and dialed Yang's number, keeping a close eye on Phoenix. Thankfully, he seemed to learn his lesson and focused on eating.

"Ruby!" Yang picked up quickly.

"Heya, sis!" Ruby responded. "Any good updates for me?"

"Actually, I was hoping you would call soon…" Yang replied. "Weiss and I set a date for the wedding."

"Oh?" Ruby smiled. "And when are you getting fitted for your ball-and-chain?"

"You should know she has you on speaker!" Weiss's voice came through the line.

"I stand by what I said." Ruby smirked.

"It's actually the day before the next reunion, which we're gonna use it as the reception, and… well… I was hoping… that maybe you would be my Best Man?" The blonde asked.

Ruby wanted to accept immediately, but hesitated… The Best Man/Maid of Honor was a very involved role. Of course Ruby wanted to do it… But looking inside to Phoenix reminded Ruby she already had time consuming responsibilities. "I wish I could Yang, and I promise I'll be at the wedding… but I can't promise anything else."

"I know… well I don't know why, but I kinda anticipated that… Look, Weiss and Winter are already handling  _all_  of that, and I've actually been forbidden from having a bachelorette party." Yang lamented. "Apparently, I have a reputation."

"Yes, you do." Ruby giggled, not at all surprised. "So all I have to do is show up to the wedding, and I can still be Best Man?"

"That's right." Yang sounded hopeful.

"Then of course I accept!" Ruby was happy. At this point it was a technicality of a position, but she still got to be Yang's Best Man, without it interrupting her surprise second life. "I'll see you then!"

"I can't wait!" Yang replied.

"For more reasons than  _that_  I would hope." Weiss piped up from the background.

Ruby and Yang hung up as the latter started a playful argument with her soon-to-be. Ruby looked down at her scroll and frowned.  _We always knew we'd be each other's Maid of Honors… or I guess Best Man in this case. Doesn't surprise me that Yang's playing Groom. But I almost turned her down…_ Ruby looked inside to Phoenix. She would never regret keeping him. But this new turn brought another fear in the redhead.  _What if I had to? The day may come when I have to turn her down, or cancel something, for Phoenix._

_Monster._

Ruby knew why she couldn't tell Blake. And even Weiss might have trouble coming to grips. But why not Yang? Was she really still afraid? Or was she just used to this second life thing by now?  _Maybe I should call her ba-_

_FWOOP_

" _AAAAHHHHHHHHH!"_

" _What did I tell you!?"_

Ruby rushed back inside. The cushions did their job, Phoenix wasn't hurt. But his crying was more real. She picked him up in her arms and shushed him calmly. "It's okay, Phoenix. You're okay. Momma is here now. And I'll always be here to catch you when it's important."

He started to calm and even seemed to grow sleepy. Ruby looked at the clock. "Little early, but you've had an exciting day, haven't you? You little daredevil." The young mother smiled as her child fell right asleep. "Goodnight, Phoenix." Ruby toted her son to his room, her thoughts a million miles away from where they were a moment ago.

Maybe she was still scared. Maybe she was just used to it. Maybe she was even frustrated that Yang kept questioning, not giving her time to come clean her own. Whatever reasoning, the fact remained… almost three years had passed since Beacon, and Ruby remained as distant as ever.

* * *

This time, Ruby timed the  _end_  of her hunting trip with her visit to Atlas. She arrived a day early, and decided to see how Yang would react to her sudden appearance. Yang was excited when she was expecting her sister to show up.  _She will probably explode when I knock on the door_.

'Exploding' was actually a pretty accurate term. Yang was doing all she could with how much control she had over the wedding… Sitting around Schnee manor and waiting.  _I proposed, how do I not even get a say in the dinner?_  She was fuming, and then there was a knock at the door.  _Who the hell is that? Staff wouldn't let them get all the way to door if they didn't know them…_  The thought made Yang take another look at herself, mentally.  _Wow. I really settled in to the whole 'manor' thing. I kinda hope I don't get to used to it…_

She opened the door slowly to red hair, silver eyes, and a big smile. She literally threw the door wide open and picked up Ruby in a soul-crushing hug. "Rubes! Omigod! What are you doing here! I mean, I know what you're doing here, but you're early! You're never early!"

Ruby tried to respond, but couldn't get the breath in her lungs. Yang caught on and set her down. "Uuuughhh…" Ruby groaned, rubbing her ribs. "I wanted to see your reaction… if I wanted someone to kill me, I could have visited Blake…"

"Why would Blake want to kill you?" Yang asked.

"Uh… no reason." Ruby replied.

"I mean… I kinda figured you guys weren't doing okay with how you two acted around each other last year, but…"

"Yang. It's fine. We're fine." Ruby tried to recover.  _Jeez, that was close to one secret… I better watch what I say if I'm spending a whole extra day with her._  Ruby once again wondered to herself why she was still keeping quiet about Phoenix… but Yang had a lot going on right now.  _Maybe after the wedding._

"So… I'm not supposed to do anything today, but I really can't not go out with my sister! We haven't had a sister's day since Beacon." Yang offered.

"I think I can keep an eye on you. I've been watching you since I was twelve." Ruby teased.

"Yeah right! I'm the older sister!" Yang puffed out her chest.

"And when did dad stop putting you in charge? Was it the incident with the Vodka, or the incident with that girl from Signal?" Ruby pointed out.

"You said you would never speak of that again." Yang narrowed her eyes.

"Either way, I was at least thirteen before all that." Ruby reminded her. "Point remains, at  _least_  text Weiss that we're going out."

"I'm not that whipped…" Yang rubbed the back of her neck.

"Do you want to marry her?" Ruby asked, a triumphant smile on her lips.

"Well… maybe I am a little whipped…" Yang pulled out her scroll. "But I am telling her I'm going out! Not asking! I'm telling her!"

"Telling me what?" Weiss asked, walking up the drive behind them.

Yang immediately backtracked. "t-te-telling you that… I love you! And… Ruby and I are going out…?"

Weiss raised her eyebrow. Ruby snickered in the background. The heiress, who had heard the entire conversation, smirked herself. "Are you asking me? Or telling me?"

After a long moment of thought, Yang replied, "Asking?"

"Good. Go ahead. I trust Ruby to watch you." Weiss smiled, walking inside. In the doorway, Ruby watched her flick her wrist at Yang, like she was cracking a whip.

"You two really are perfect for each other…" Ruby told her sister.

"Let's just go before I strangle you. We do still have to pick out a tux for you anyhow." Yang stated.

"Why not a dress?" Ruby asked.

"Because I'm playing groom. I'm wearing a suit, and you are my Best Man!" Yang told her. "Besides, I don't want my 'Best Man' tripping over her 'Lady Stilts'."

"That is a very good point…" Ruby agreed. "Blasted Lady Stilts…"

The girls stated their 'sister's day' picking up a nice red suit for Ruby, and continued to dinner and then an arcade from there. All day, people treated Yang like royalty, and consequently, Ruby as well. It was clear Yang was still getting used to it, obviously uncomfortable with being treated specially. Ruby, on the other hand, would try everything she could to be treated normally, without being rude to the various servers.

Throughout the whole day, Phoenix was constantly on the back of Ruby's mind. Not only had she not seen him for weeks now with her hunting trip being before this, but she was worried about how Yang would react when she finally told her. The longer it took, the harder it got. Yang clearly had a life here, a life Ruby hadn't been seeing with her being away. And Ruby had a life in Mistral, one her old friends still knew nothing of.

The blonde had enough to worry about, but Ruby knew she couldn't hide it forever. If for no other reason than it wouldn't be fair to them. They deserved to know.  _Maybe even Blake and I… who am I kidding, there's no way she doesn't hate me now. But still, Yang… after the wedding. When everything is calm._

If only.


	10. Chapter 10

Ruby dusted off her suit one last time. Apparently, she owned the suit now, Weiss's card payed it off completely. Ruby wanted to make sure it looked the best. Never mind she was already standing up on the alter, next to Yang, waiting for Weiss. She almost looked more nervous that the groomette, making Yang giggle.

So far, the wedding seemed surprisingly tailored to Yang's taste as well as Weiss's. Ruby figured that even though the CEO took over the planning, she still wanted it to be both of theirs. Rather than a ballroom or a pavilion, the ceremony took place in a large, open park. The weather thankfully held as one of the warmest days on Atlas record. Even dinner was supposed to be tailored to both girls, the dishes being a choice between Yang's favorite steak and Weiss's favorite sushi.

Finally, the bride started walking down the aisle. Yang's breath caught in her mouth appropriately. Weiss's dress was all white, elegant lacing detailing the bottom foot. A yellow sash complemented the dress, and the blonde understood her own outfit a little more, a black suit with a white tie. Yang stared at Weiss while the officiant spoke his piece. When it came time for Yang to say her vows, Ruby had to remind her she was at a wedding.

"You may now kiss the bride." The officiant finally stated. Yang tipped Weiss over and planted a not-so-conservative kiss on her lips to the cheering crowd.

The entire affair was a grand old time. The only real issue was only shared between two people. Blake was one of Weiss's bridesmaids, and caught eyes with Ruby once. Exactly once. After that, the two avoided each other's gaze like the plague. Unfortunately, this meant the redhead never saw that there wasn't anger in Blake's eyes… only continued sadness. Sun didn't miss it, though. He never did.

* * *

The reception was, as promised, held at the same time as the Reunion would have been held. A lot of the guests treated the event as a juxtaposition of both.

"So, where's the honeymoon going to be?" Coco asked, tactless as ever.

"That's a secret." Yang answered.

"Hey, didn't Yang propose?" Coco asked Weiss. "Did you really have to hijack  _everything_?"

"Not like that." Weiss answered. "We're a high-profile couple. The Schnees have always been watched closely."

"Says Mrs. Weiss Xaio Long." Yang smiled huge.

"Oh, the tabloids are going to have a field day with me taking your name and not the other way around." Weiss remembered. "Not to mention father."

"Another reason it's a secret." Yang pointed out. "We don't need paparazzi or unwanted in-laws interrupting what should be our time alone."

"That makes sense. Need any house sitters for the Manor?" Coco asked.

"Nice try," Was Weiss's only reply.

As the night went on and things calmed down, Ruby was seriously debating finally telling Yang.  _Maybe I can get her alone. 'hey Yang, can I talk to you?' 'Sure.' 'Alone?' 'uhh… sure. What's up?' 'I need to tell you about something… something that happened back at Beacon.' Then I show her my locket and go from there._

As Ruby was internally predicting, Yang had her own scenario she was worried about. She and Weiss approached Ruby slowly. Yang tapped Ruby's shoulder.

The redhead was too caught up in her own head to notice their approach, and jumped. "AAHHH!" Ruby shouted. "Oh my god… Hey Yang."

"Hey Rubes… I wanted to talk to you about something." The sister began.

"Oh?" Ruby was surprised.  _What could this be?_  "What's up?"

"Weiss and I… wanted to give you this." Yang held out a key with a ribbon tied around it.

Ruby eyed the item suspiciously. "What is that?"

"It's a key, to the guesthouse. So you can be close on your off time." Weiss explained. Yang smiled hopefully.

But Ruby knew she couldn't take it. Even if she told Yang today, she still had a life in Mistral. "I'm sorry Yang. I can't accept."

"Ruby…" Yang pleaded. "I just worry about you… you're always gone. I almost never see you."

"And I'm sorry, but I can't do this." Ruby answered.

"Why not?" Yang asked, her tone getting harsher. Weiss didn't like where this was going. "Ruby, I get you're all 'solo hunter' but we're family!"

"What did you think would happen!?" Ruby shouted. Once again, Yang was pressuring her to return before she was truly ready, which never made her ready faster. Add Yang's own frustration, and the ingredients were set to boil over. "Since I was little, I knew what I wanted to be! We all knew this would be how I lived one day! Job to job, hunting, protecting people!"

"And what's so bad with settling down!?" Yang shouted right back. "I know you like your work, but you're doing so much! And I hardly ever see you!"

"We talk all the time!" Ruby countered. "You know I'm safe!"

"That's different!" Yang shouted. "I only see you once a year, if I'm lucky! Once a year is not enough! We're your family! This is exactly how Summer acted before she died, except she had a family to support! Do you want to end like that!?"

That struck a chord with Ruby. Not just because of her connection to Summer, but because this was an exact fear she had. Yang bluntly pointing this out wouldn't have the effect the blonde intended. "Using my own mother against me…" Ruby felt her mouth form words almost beyond her control, her anger rising. "That's a low blow, Yang…" Ruby wrenched the front door open and vanished, leaving a few petals behind to fall to the ground.

"Fuck!" Yang shouted, realizing her mistake. She whipped out her scroll and dialed Ruby's number. It rang three times before cutting out. All she got after that was a 'busy' tone.

The mood of the day was effectively ruined. No one knew what led Ruby to reacting the way she did… that secret would stay secret now. Yang had to storm off elsewhere to calm down, and wasn't seen for the rest of the night. Weiss continued to entertain the guests, but it was clear after that display that no one knew how they could possibly raise the mood. They slowly filed out after that, and Weiss made her way to her new wife. She found Yang with her head in her hands. After her anger passed, all the blonde had left was tears.

"Sshhh…" Weiss gently patted Yang's back, trying to calm the girl down.

"I fucked up, didn't I…?" Yang sobbed. "God, I should have let you give it to her… You wouldn't have exploded…"

"It'll be okay, Yang." Weiss promised.

"How can you promise that?" The blonde asked.

"Because you are too stubborn to let it go." Weiss told her. "Maybe she won't call you anytime soon. But you'll look for her. And you'll find her. Even if it takes the rest of your life. You won't let yourself die before you see your sister again."

"Hehe…  _sniff_." Yang managed a small smile. "You're right… You're always right…"

"Not always…" Weiss recalled coming up with the guesthouse idea in the first place. "Maybe It's selfish to ask, but maybe we can still have a nice honeymoon? Then when we return, you'll be refreshed, and ready to start searching."

"I think I'll trust your judgment this time." Yang joked. She recalled her own shortcoming in convincing Weiss to let her give Ruby the key. The more tactful CEO was originally going to present it, and convince her to use it. "Alright, Weiss. I'll try to give you the best honeymoon. Then, I look for Ruby."

* * *

Blake and Sun were among the first to leave the disastrous reception. Blake's mind was in turmoil. She spent the entire night trying to think of a way she could approach Ruby. But before she came close to figuring it out, the sister's shouting match put one hell of a period on that sentence. Now she was trying to figure out what could possibly make Ruby react like that. Her mind stayed on her old girlfriend… something Sun never failed to notice.

They returned to the home they shared and tried to have a normal evening. Eventually, Blake did notice something eating at Sun, and spoke up, nudging his shoulder. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"It's… nothing, Blake. Promise." He tried to smile.

Blake frowned, seeing right through him. "You know I don't like that. That's the same look you give me when you decide to go off on a hunt alone and don't tell me until the night you leave."

Sun thought for a long moment about his response. "Blake, do you like me at all?"

The cat faunus reeled. "Of course I do. We've been dating for two years."

Sun looked her in the eye, gauging the truth. "Even so… am I who you want to be with?"

"Would I be with you otherwise?" Blake answered.

"Blake, I want the truth." Sun accused. "I knew in the beginning I'd have to compete with Ruby. But after this long, it's a little silly to still be fighting over a memory for your attention."

"Excuse me?" Blake narrowed her eyes.

"Don't give me that." Sun told her, getting angry himself. "Even after everything… I see the way you  _still_  look at her whenever she does happen to be around. No more lies, Blake. No more hiding. Please, I need the truth."

Blake cast her eyes to the ground. "About?"

"You know what." Sun told her. "Do you still love Ruby more than you love me?"

Blake turned away. "Say I do… what could I do about it?"

"I don't want to be your consolation prize." Sun turned her back around. "Look me in the eye and tell me… If Ruby walked through that door right now, and asked for you back, you would jump on it in an instant… wouldn't you?"

Blake looked to the door, and for a moment, played that fantasy in her head. And it was a fantasy. A perfect one. The cat faunus gave no vocal answer, but she didn't need to.

Sun took a few steps toward the hallway. "I have a contract in a few days. I'll be going out-of-kingdom. I think… I'll be taking my things with me."

This was Blake's last chance to prove him wrong. To make him stay. But the only honest thing she could do was nod. Sun retreated into the shadows of the house, and Blake whispered into the dark house, "I'm sorry…"

When she woke up on the couch the next morning, the house was half-empty. But there might as well been only air for as much as Blake cared. She didn't want to be here, in the house she shared with Sun, a second longer after all that had happened. She knew now how fucked she was. She could never get over Ruby… that girl was her perfect other, and Blake couldn't hate her if she tried.

Blake wrote the landlords a note, allowing them to sell her belongings to pay off any outstanding fees. Then she locked the door with the key inside. She wasn't coming back here. She didn't know what her end goal was, but she knew where she was starting. The mystery needed an answer. Maybe she couldn't get Ruby's ultimate secret from the girl herself, but there was one other person who would know. Blake steeled her resolve and headed to the airport. One ticket to Vale. One cab ride to the maximum-security prison.

The faunus was acting on instinct. She didn't quite realize what she was getting into until she was sitting on one side of a pane of bulletproof glass. The guards escorted the prisoner into the room on the other side, leaving his cuffs on. "You look different without the mask." Blake told him.

Adam Taurus found the visage of his companion. "After three years, I finally get a visitor…" the bull-man sounded different, too. A tone in his voice Blake hadn't heard in a long time.

"I've been told you seem to be changing." Blake said. "Not sure I trust it. But maybe I can give you a chance."

Adam looked hopeful. He couldn't believe it… his oldest friend was giving him a chance? "Of course, Blake… anything…"

"Tell me everything you did to Ruby Rose." Blake told him.

"What… did she tell you…?" Adam asked, looking for a place to start.

"Enough. The torture, the pain… it was straight up abuse. But there's something else… something she came close to telling me once. Something only you would know."

"I see…" Gears worked in the bull man's mind. "Okay… here's the truth…"

* * *

_Back at the day of the reception_

Ruby exited her semblance close to Atlas's airfield. Her scroll started going off, and she checked it quickly. " _Why can't you leave me alone!_ " She shouted, throwing the scroll against a wall. Yang's contact name shattered into a dozen pieces, and Ruby left them where they lay. She stormed up to the counter.

"Hello, and welcome to-"

Ruby cut off the receptionist by slamming Lien cards on the counter. "Just get me to Mistral, quickly." The receptionist nodded uneasily and booked Ruby on the soonest flight.

Her bad mood didn't sustain itself forever. Ruby felt full regret by the time she was in the air.  _But by the time I land, it will be too late to head to the Huntsmen HQ in Mistral. I'll just have to get a new scroll tomorrow. Hopefully my old number doesn't get issued before then…_

She walked up the steps to her home, head full of doubts. She shook them away. She didn't need to bring that stuff home. No, Phoenix didn't need to see the broken huntress Ruby Rose. He needed to see his Indestructible Momma.

"Momma!" Was indeed the first word Ruby heard when she opened the door. Her child ran full force at her, and she ducked down to catch him and pick him up. Looking at Phoenix, a genuine smile stretched her lips.

"Yes, Phoenix! Momma's home!" Ruby told him.

"And Momma looks tired." Flora pointed out.

"Maybe a little…" Ruby admitted. "But never too tired for my little man!"

"Momma! Look what I do!" He pointed at the fridge, where a very bad hand drawing representing Ruby with her scythe sat.

"Very good, Phoenix!" Ruby smiled.

"My Momma best hun-hun… hun-tear-rest!" Phoenix proclaimed proudly.

"I think he wants to hear stories of Momma's adventures." Ash came out of the back. "We looked up a bunch of stuff, trying to teach him what you do."

"Why it's important you leave all the time." Flora admitted.

_Right… he's never been happy when I walk out that door…_

"Don't worry, Momma! I safe! I happy you out there! I cheer you! Woo!" Phoenix shouted.

Ruby smiled. "And that's why I do it… to keep you safe." Ruby tousled his hair.

Phoenix smiled wide, and Ash piped up once more, "Told ya, little man."

"Well, we must be going." Flora told Ash. "We'll see you tomorrow, Ruby?"

"Yeah, sure." Ruby nodded. She turned to Phoenix. "So, you wanna hear my stories?"

Ruby didn't know when the stories stopped. All she knew was she was telling them one minute, and waking up on the couch with a still sleeping Phoenix in her arms the next.

Ruby spent the day catching up with Flora and Ash, and forgot to get a new scroll.  _Tomorrow, then._  She told herself.

When she finally got around to getting a new scroll, the teller had to inform her that her old number was already given away. "A destroyed scroll reads as 'deactivated'. After 24 hours, the number is available for issue. Sorry, you're too late."

 _So Yang won't be able to call me… I'll just have to recall her number… what was it? 335… no… 355?_  Just then Phoenix started crying, and Ruby had to abandon her pursuit to attend to him.  _Tomorrow,_  she told herself again.

And again. And again. Always  _Tommorow._  And always, something else would come up. Or she would forget. Then she had to hunt, and didn't even think about it for two weeks. Forgetfulness turned into complacency, and Ruby was just too involved in her new life taking care of Phoenix.

For Yang, she tried Ruby's scroll when the honeymoon was over. When she got some stranger, she knew Ruby must have broken her scroll and lost her number. The she sat there, hoping Ruby would call her.  _Tomorrow_.

Days turned into weeks. Weeks would turn into months. As the months grew longer, Yang decided to stop waiting. She needed to  _find_  Ruby.  _No matter what it takes. Day by day. Always, tomorrow…_

Yang knew someday the  _tomorrow_ s would end. Days into weeks, weeks into months… Yang kept searching.

And so, after seven years without contact, Yang would finally find a tangible lead on catching up with Ruby.


	11. Chapter 11

" _You want to be a faunus whore?"_

Ruby woke with a start, the stars still out over her head. She shook the vestiges of the nightmare from her head. That night would always haunt her.  _But without it, Phoenix would never exist… how many people can say the best thing in their life was born from their worst?_  A peek at her scroll told her it was just after 3 in the morning, Vacuo time.  _Vacuo… I'm on a hunt,_  The redhead recalled. Another look at the stars told Ruby she could probably stand to get a bit more sleep. She was close enough to her hunt now to catch up in the morning.

"Or I can move now while it's still cool." Ruby told herself, remembering she was in a desert. She grasped her locket, and peeked at the pictures inside. Phoenix's infant picture was still in there, and Ruby began to fill the other side with his yearly school photos. "Or I can make sure I'm properly rested… this fight won't be my easiest."

Ruby set her scroll alarm for 5 30. Still cool, starting to get light, another two hours of sleep… it was perfect. With a hopeful smile for better dreams, Ruby turned back over in her bag for more rest.

* * *

Her alarm woke her what felt like a few moments later. With a very long sigh, she sat up and shut off the device. She began to unpack the metal pot she started bringing with her. Ruby was getting older, and while still in her twenties, she noticed some of her natural energy drain over time. By midday she would be her old hyper self, but she noticed a cup of coffee was starting to really help her in the morning. Especially mornings like this, when she had a hunt to finish and a foggy eye to chase away.

Refreshed and feeling 18 again, she packed up her camp, grabbed her gear from where it was stashed nearby, and was on her way. She had spent the last three days tracking a collection of Deathstalkers. Normally solo-hunters, the desert scorpions in question had decided to stay in a group of three for some reason. It made them very difficult to deal with, and in the three months the contract had been active, three teams tried and failed to bring them down. One from the last trip was in critical condition.  _Not anymore_.

Some would say Ruby taking this assignment on her own was cocky. That it was suicide, that she was being arrogant. Maybe it was, but whatever arrogance the redhead had, she could back up with skill. Eight years of solo hunting had only refined the prodigious huntress's abilities. She was becoming a common name, a living legend. She had recently learned she even had a trading card, and was a contender in playground arguments of 'which Hunter is the best!'

Her 'legend' status was helped by the fact that she was a rather private person these days. Whatever fame she gained, she wanted to raise Phoenix away from all of that. She wanted him to have a normal childhood. She was no longer intentionally hiding him by any means, she just didn't reveal him to the world. If the truth ever did out, she wouldn't hide it. But she originally picked Mistral for a reason… it was excellent place to hide in plain sight. And so, she easily stayed private.

She noticed a glint, one that was different than the sand, rock and occasional glass…  _a deathstalker stinger._  She had found her hunt. In full Huntress mode, she dashed up a nearby dune, finding a place to watch. Lowering high-tech goggles of her own design, she used the binocular function to scout the area.

 _Three of them. Battle scars. A few of the previous teams got some good hits in. They seem a little tired even… and an approaching sandstorm._ Ruby switched her goggles to heat-vision, lighting up the deathstalkers through the approaching wind.  _Perfect cover…_

Ruby waited, watched… she may be good, but one of the reasons was she did know her limits. Three deathstalkers solo was a little above her. But two was more reasonable, so she only had to disable one before the sandstorm passed. Not even kill it, just make it unable to fight with its brothers.

She kept one hand on Crescent Rose, though maybe that name wasn't too accurate at the moment. Her Sweetheart was recently upgraded with a camouflage drive that could actively change its color. White in Atlas, green in Vale's forests, near black in Mistral's swamps, and for Vacuo's desert the huntress chose a dirty tan. Of course, it was always red again when she went back home.

A shift in their behavior caught her attention. They started to circle a single point, tensing like they were ready to lash.  _No one else is on this contract… who the hell is that?_  Crescent Rose's scope was still a little more powerful than her binoculars. With it, she peeked between the legs of the grimm and spotted someone… long blonde hair, an up close and personal fighting style, and out of place black leather sleeve…

"Yang!?" Ruby was startled. "What the hell is she doing here! Damn it, she's going to get herself killed!" The huntress launched herself off the dune and slid down the slope, picking up with her semblance as she leveled out.

* * *

_Two weeks prior_

Weiss's internal clock roused her near the crack of dawn. A curious look at the actual alarm clock told her it was the weekend, and her company didn't need her today. She was about to turn over and fall back asleep, but ran into two issues. One, her wife wasn't in bed for her to cuddle with. And two, the pillow next to hers was completely clean. Not a single strand of hair. Weiss could  _never_  make it one night without waking up and finding silver strands shed in her pillow, but  _somehow_  the blonde brute never lost a single hair! What did she do to that supposed mess to keep it all together!?

Weiss banished the menial worry from her mind. Yang had heard enough of her little pet peeves before they were even together to hear this one again. She would likely just shrug and say something like  _I just don't worry about it, Weissy._

 _Stress can lead to hair loss…_  Weiss began thinking.  _Maybe there actually is something to simply not worrying about it…_

Weiss went to the bathroom and washed up in the sink. While letting her good eye wander around, she noticed something. Yang's painkillers for her arm were in the same position on the counter they had been for the past three days. Weiss picked them up and looked over the issue date with a frown. While she had managed to get Yang to stop popping the numbing pills like candy in the last few years, the beautiful blonde unfortunately never broke the habit of stopping entirely before hunts…  _That certainly explains some of her behavior lately…_

Weiss decided this was something worth confronting her wife for. She strode briskly to where she now assumed Yang would be now that she knew the huntress intended to go somewhere. She had a training room specifically built to withstand a giga-bomb going off within it, just so Yang would stop destroying gyms. She still worried the brawler would someday break it. As she approached, she heard nothing. Stepping inside proved the soundproofing was still holding up, as her ears were assaulted by explosions and Yang's 'workout mix'.

"Yang Xiao Long!" Weiss shouted, somehow making it to the blonde's ear.

Yang stopped was she was doing and quickly turned the music off. "Good morning, Weiss Xiao Long! What's up?"

Weiss held up the medicine bottle. "Going somewhere?"

Yang sighed. "Weiss, have I ever kept anything from you?"

The CEO shook the bottle. "Then what's with this?"

"I was going to tell you over breakfast. You're never up before noon on a Saturday." Yang told her. "I have a flight to Vacuo iiinnnnn five days now."

Weiss's frown only deepened. "Yang, honey… you know we don't need the extra income."

"I know." Yang shrugged. "But I like going out there. I thought we had this conversation before?"

"Back when I asked you to plant your feet and stay here with me." Weiss remembered fondly. "I don't mind you going out there, as long as you come home."

"But?" Yang asked.

"But you've been going out there more and more." Weiss answered. "Yang, honey… what's going on? Do you not like it here? Is… it me?"

Yang's eyes widened. "No! God, Weiss, why would you even think that!" She drew her wife into a deep hug. "I love it here, and I love you."

Weiss breathed a sigh of relief and hugged back. "You just keep going out... and even when your home, your mind seems elsewhere."

"I'm so sorry if you feel neglected." Yang told her. She pushed off, keeping a grip on Weiss's shoulders. "look, there is something. But the only reason I didn't say anything is because I didn't want to get either of our hopes up."

"What is it?" Weiss asked.

Yang took a deep breath. "I think I know how to track Ruby."

Weiss understood everything in that moment. "Yang… After this long, are you sure she even wants to come back?"

"I've had seven  _years_  to think about this Weiss." Yang stated. "You were right. I can't stop. I need to see her. Even if it goes bad, I need to try. She's my sister."

"I understand." Weiss smiled. "Just making sure you're prepared for the worst."

"The worst already happened." Yang lamented. "Either I'll be talking to her again, or I won't. We'll just have to see."

* * *

Yang's plan was simple. Ruby's huntress license was still active, and Yang had managed to track her turned in bounties. They were all over the place, and couldn't be used to find where she lived (if she even lived in a single location). But there was something else… a number of highly dangerous hunts were taken down by Ruby, solo, after other Huntsmen, Huntresses, and teams thereof failed. Her hero complex acting up, Yang supposed.

So, she found another hunt that didn't fit the bill quite yet, but was close. And she pursued it without actually picking it up from the website. If Ruby saw Yang's name on the registered Hunters list for the mission, she may avoid it. And now she was here, and for the past three days had kept goading the Deathstalkers to attack, running at the last moment, knowing when Ruby showed up she would reveal herself to save her. Yang was starting to feel it was a bad idea after all, until a glint of gold and sentient wind.

Something had blast by, slowing down just long enough to sweep the legs of one of the Deathstalkers. To Yang's amazement, the legs were all severed with this single slice. Yang was picked up before she could properly register how impossible that must have been, and found herself on a dune several hundred meters away. Yang looked up at her savior, and for a moment, her hopes were dashed.

No black and red corset, instead loose and breathable combat gear including cargo pants, knee high boots, a long-sleeved shirt, gloves, and small armor plating all around. Instead of a short red cape and hood, a large, flowing tan cloak with a low hood. Instead of silver eyes, cold glass goggles set above a bandanna mask that hid her savior's features. It was all desert colors, and Yang was sure that if she wasn't saved by her, she would never have spotted her amongst the dunes.

But then there was the weapon. All brown camouflage at the moment, it was undoubtedly the same layout and design as Crescent Rose. The only real difference between this scythe and the one she knew, was a thin golden edge to the scythe blades. Yang jumped up and hugged the figure. "Ruby! I found you! Oh god, it's been so long…"

"Stop crying…" Ruby tried to shake her sister off.

"Ruby, I'm so sorry…"

"Yang!" Ruby shouted, pulling down the bandanna that made up her cloth mask. "We'll talk in a minute, but right now, your emotion is calling to the Grimm."

Yang's eyes shot to the Deathstalkers, which were starting to look their way. The girls quickly hid behind a nearby dune. "So, sis… what's your plan of attack?"

"There's a sandstorm coming. Perfect visual cover." Ruby told her sister, raising her mask again. Its purpose was to filter the sand out of her breath, after all.

"Sounds good. I got lefty, you got righty? I don't think that other one is going anywhere." Yang pointed out.

"Sounds good." Ruby nodded.

"Just promise me, when we're done fighting, that you'll stick around and talk…?" Yang asked cautiously.

Ruby turned to her sister. This all happened so fast, her mind had yet to truly register she was here in front of her. "I promise…" Ruby replied.

* * *

"So that's how you found me." Ruby stated. After they finished with the Deathstalkers, the pair decided to walk until nightfall and talk by firelight. Yang had just finished explaining how she ended up in Vacuo. "But why come in the first place?"

Yang paused. "Isn't it obvious? To bring you home…"

"Yang…" Ruby started.

"No, I'm sorry I tried push you into staying before, but seven years with no contact is a little much!" Yang scolded.

"My scroll broke on my way home. By the time I got a new one, I ended up with a different number." Ruby explained. "And besides, it's not as easy as just 'coming back'."

"Why not?" Yang asked. "Wait… home?"

Ruby looked into violet eyes, thinking deeply on how to answer.  _It's been seven years, Ruby. Now's as good a time as any. But how to tell her?_  "Yes Yang. I've had a 'home' to return to for almost ten years now."

"Ten… how come you never told us?" Yang asked.

"The answer's not simple… Maybe it was once…" Ruby thought carefully. "Hey, Yang? Are you still doing the Reunions?"

"Same day, every year." Yang answered. "Always hoping you'd show up. Will you?"

"I have a lot to think about…" Ruby told her, "if I show up, you'll understand. I hope."

Yang nodded. She wasn't going to push it anymore. She learned her lesson.  _I hope I see you then._

* * *

A weary Ruby Rose climbed the steps to her Mistral apartment. She had time. She would think on going to Atlas tomorrow. But tonight, it was time to see someone she missed very much. She opened the door and stepped inside. The front room was dark, the air still. It was all quiet…  _Too quiet… that can only mean…_  Ruby was on guard immediately, eyes darting to the various dark corners. She turned around as a black shape jumped at her from behind the door.

"Oof!" She hit the ground, the shape settling on her torso. Ruby opened her eyes and saw a small figure with short dark red hair, silver eyes, and black horns that swept back along his hair before curving up just before the tips. He wore simple clothes and a familiar red hood that was a little large for him, pinned together around his neck by a single cross clasp.

"I got you, Momma!" Phoenix grinned triumphantly, grabbing his little wooden sword from where it was strapped across the small of his back, and brought it around to his mother's neck.

Ruby quickly decided to make a big show of being 'gotten', thrashing about without actually disturbing Phoenix's position. "Urgh! Blech! Gaah! You have vanquished me, oh brave warrior!" She dropped all her limbs and shut her eyes.

"Momma? Momma? You okay?" Phoenix asked, slightly worried. He knew she was alright, of course, but it wouldn't be the first time she came home more exhausted than she let on.

One eye opened, a smile stretching across the woman's face. "Hey, kiddo."

"Momma!" Phoenix was excited, and quickly put his toy sword back. "I really got you, huh!?"

"Yes you did!" Ruby sat up, grabbing her son and setting him in her lap. "You're getting good!"

"As good as you?" Phoenix asked.

"Woah, there, buster. You got a long way to go for that." Ruby warned.

"I'll do it! I'll be strong like you! I'll be a Huntsman!" The child declared for the umpteenth time.

Ruby giggled and tousled his hair, answering as she always did. "I'm sure you will. You'll be strong and brave, and you'll get the girl and save the day."

Flora came out of the other room just then, already dressed for her shift at the clinic. "Welcome home Ruby! Sorry I'm in a rush."

"We'll catch up later. Go save some lives. And thank you for watching Phoenix. Again." Ruby told her friend.

"You're welcome. Again." Flora smiled. "You two be good."

The nurse left, and Phoenix bounded off his mother and set himself on the couch, across from Ruby's 'chair.' This was how they partook of the same ritual they always had upon the huntress's return. "Story Time, Story Time! What happened, what happened!?" Phoenix bounced in his seat with excitement.

Ruby sat down and began to recount the tales of her various contracts this run. She exaggerated a bit, of course… Story Time had to be exciting. She managed to stay awake and energized to get all the way to her last contract in Vacuo. "And then, without warning, they started circling around and fighting-"

Ruby stopped on her tracks, and Phoenix was impatient for the finale. "What happened!? Who was it!?"

The mother raised an eyebrow at her child. "How do you know it was a person?"

Phoenix shrugged. "Empty desert, grimm moving different… it had to be a person."

Ruby smiled. "You're a smart little man, you know that?" Her smiled faltered. "Phoenix, do you remember when I told you about my old team? About your aunt, Yang?"

"Yeah-huh." Phoenix nodded. "You said you guys don't talk no-more? Was it her?"

"There's something I never told you… She wasn't at fault when we parted ways." Ruby confessed.

"Huh? What do you mean?" The boy was genuinely confused.

Ruby giggled. "Your momma's not perfect, honey. Hardly. I'm  _very_  bad with people. And well… let's just say I was scared. They didn't know about you, and I was scared of how they would react of they did."

"Why…?" Phoenix asked, saddened.

Ruby moved next to Phoenix, draping him in her arms. "I think it's time for a different kind of story, Nix. I think you're old enough, or at least smart enough, to understand. Just know, no matter how this comes out, I never lied to you. I love you, more than anything, and nothing will change that."

Phoenix nodded and listened closely, sensing this was important.

"This," Ruby continued, "is the story of you, Phoenix Rose."

* * *

 

Phoenix Rose ^ Long before I first began writing this story, I made a little doodle that would eventually inspire it all.


	12. Chapter 12

It was nearly midnight by the time Ruby explained everything satisfactorily. Phoenix was quiet for some time, taking in all the new information. Ruby was worried. Most of it was bad, but she hoped the overall theme remained intact. No matter what, she loved him.

"So…" Phoenix finally spoke up, "I don't have a daddy… because my daddy was a bad guy…?"

"That's right…" Ruby nodded. "But that doesn't change who  _you_ are. You are not him, Phoenix. I promise."

"But what if I am?" Phoenix asked. "He is my daddy…"

"No." Ruby told him. "He may have 'fathered' you, but you are not his son. Do you understand?"

Phoenix thought on that statement for a good minute. "It's like… feeling? Like you and Flora. You're like sisters, but you're not sisters… same as that, but different too… Because he  _is_  my daddy… but he's not my daddy, in here." Phoenix tapped his heart. "I think I get it."

"You are a kind soul, Phoenix. That's already leagues away from being Adam." Ruby assured her child.

Phoenix smiled. "And… even though he forced me on you… somehow…" Phoenix scrunched his brow. He was too young for Ruby to properly explain the concept of sex and birth. "You still love me. Because I  _am_  your son."

"More than anything." Ruby nodded, smiling herself. She was beyond glad Phoenix understood.

Phoenix smiled wider. "I love you too, momma."

Ruby drew her child into her arms and laid back on the couch, relaxing… sleep was ready to take them both.

But Phoenix wasn't ready for it. "So what about aunt Yang? She's who was at the deathsta- uh… death… grimm… right?"

"Right…" Ruby opened her eyes back up. "The… argument we had was about seven years ago, now. And then, the other day, I run into her on a hunt. It wasn't accident though… she was looking for me."

"How come you never went back… I know you couldn't call, but how come you never visited?" Phoenix asked.

"Well… I... I don't even know… I guess my mind was just… elsewhere. Whenever I went out, my biggest concern was finishing quickly so I could get back to you. After a while, it just became routine." Ruby answered sadly. She wasn't happy with her own life choices in that department.

"Well… she was looking for you, what did you talk about?" Phoenix pressed on. "After fighting off the monsters, of course!"

"Of course." Ruby smiled. "Well, we talked about me visiting again. During the next Reunion. Except, if I go… I know I have to bring you this time… but I'm still afraid."

"Afraid they won't like me… that they won't understand how my daddy  _isn't_  my daddy." Phoenix deduced.

"If it goes bad, I could lose what little I have left… I might never speak to Yang again…" Ruby lamented.

Phoenix just gave his mother a smart little smile. "Well… how much are you talking to her now?"

Ruby looked at her son incredulously. "How… in the world…" She smiled and ruffled his hair, "did I manage to raise a son smarter than I am?"

"Hehe!" Phoenix wore a smile that stretched his whole face.

"Alright, Phoenix. Since I obviously can't be trusted to make this decision, I ask you." The mother looked her son dead in the eyes. "Are you ready to meet your family?"

Phoenix nodded fervently. "Yeah-huh, yeah-huh, yeah-huuuhhh!"

"Alright… it's still another month or so away, so we can get you time off of school. Speaking of, we both need sleep." Ruby picked Phoenix up and started carrying him to his room.

"But Moooooooommm!" The child argued.

"It's midnight, kiddo. You're already wayyy past your bed time." The mother held fast.

"I'm old enough to make my own bedtime!" Phoenix pouted.

"Right, so I'll just let you make your own lunch? Get yourself to school? Hm?" Ruby shot back, smile on her face.

Phoenix grumbled. "Fine…"

She laid him down in his bed and tucked his blanket around him. "Goodnight Phoenix. I love you."

"Beo!" he cried.

"Oh, right!" Ruby lightly palmed her forehead. "How could I have forgotten?" She picked up the shabby old doll from the top of Phoenix's dresser. The limbs were fraying and an eye was missing, resewn, and now missing again. But it remained his favorite bedtime accessory. "Here you go."

"Beo…" He snuggled the doll happily, nearly passing out then and there. "I love you, mommaaa…" He managed before starting to snore.

"I love you too, Nix." She ruffled his sleeping head one last time before making for her own bed.

* * *

"Momma, will I really need this?" Phoenix held up the thick jacket Ruby bought him for the trip. "How cold can it be?"

Ruby laughed. "You have no idea… Yes, Phoenix, you need it. Trust me."

"But what if I don't?" He asked. "Then why pack it?"

"But what if you do?" Ruby countered. "So pack it."

"I'll be fine…" Phoenix pouted.

"Nix, honey, just pack the jacket." Ruby sighed. "If you don't need it, you don't need to wear it. Y'know, for as smart as you are, you can be unbelievably stubborn."

"It's an ugly jacket…" The child pouted.

"It's a  _warm_  jacket. I bet you'll be asking for it by the time we get to the Manor." Ruby teased him. She knew he wouldn't resist the challenge. She also knew she was right, and sometimes this was the best way to teach her literally and figuratively bull-headed son.

"Fine!" He said, tossing it aside. "I accept!"

"You'll still need it if I'm right." She reminded him.

He grumbled and reluctantly packed the jacket. The mother smiled, triumphant. "Banzai."

"Well, are you two ready yet?" Flora asked. She was going to drive them to the airport. Ruby would call a taxi in Atlas.

"We would be, if Phoenix wasn't too busy arguing about his winterwear." Ruby answered.

"It's not even winter!" Phoenix argued,

"It's Atlas, honey. Trust me." Ruby smiled. "I think we're about ready."

"Well, let's hurry! You'll miss your flight!" Flora urged them out the door.

The drive was short, but long enough for a short conversation. One that Flora was itching to have. "Ruby, are you sure you've thought this through?"

"Why are you asking that?" Ruby asked. "Weren't you always the one to try and get me to a place I was ready to face them?"

"And are you ready?" Flora asked.

Ruby opened her mouth, closed it, and then sighed deeply. "I don't know… but I can't do this again. Not to Yang, not to myself. And not to Phoenix. No matter what happens… at least the truth will be out."

Flora squeezed her friends shoulder reassuringly. "You'll be fine, Ruby."

"I hope so."

* * *

"I think I need the jacket…" Phoenix admitted slowly, shivering in the back of the cab.

"Told you." Ruby smiled. He was struggling since they got off the plane to maintain his façade of not needing the jacket. "Alright, honey. I'll get it out of the trunk when we stop. For now…" She shrugged off her own and wrapped it around Phoenix.

"What about you?" Phoenix asked, concerned.

"My aura will help me until we stop." Ruby assured him.

"If I had aura, I would be fine." Phoenix pointed out.

"Still need another year or two before then, sorry." Ruby told him. She started combat training at 11 years old with Qrow and a lot of persistence. She would start her son at 12, if he still wanted to be a Huntsmen by then.  _He does seem intent, though… I think we can start soon. If I give him a head start, he can go to a combat school with an advantage under his belt. After all, he keeps 'ambushing' me._

"Woah!" Ruby's child was immediately distracted by the nearing of Atlas Manor. Once officially called Schnee Manor, Weiss changed the name a few years ago. Schnees no longer lived there. Just Xiao Longs. "That place is bigger than the school! How do people live in a place like that!? I wouldn't know what to do with so much space!"

"I think you would figure it out." Ruby teased. "You ready for this?"

Phoenix nodded.

"Alright," Ruby told him, "When we get to the door, wait outside for a second… I'll soften them up, and then get you, okay?"

Phoenix nodded again. "It'll be okay mom." He assured her. "If she invited you back, that means she missed you too, right? She'll give me a chance if she doesn't want to lose you again."

"Where the heck does a nine-year-old get so much wisdom?" Ruby seriously asked.

"I read a lot when you're out hunting." Phoenix shrugged. "A Huntsmen needs a strong mind as well, right?"

"You're really serious about that, huh?" Ruby smiled.

"Of course I am! I'm gunna be strong, like you!" He flexed non-existent muscles.

"Hehehe… alright, kiddo. We're here." Ruby opened the door and looked up the steps to the main door of Atlas Manor. "For better or worse… we're here."

* * *

Blake was mingling with Velvet inside, enjoying the Reunion. All day, she noticed Yang kept looking to the door, especially whenever it opened. After her face fell seeing Jaune and Phyrra come in, Blake knew there was something else. She approached her old partner. "Hey Yang."

"Oh! Hey Blake!" Yang smiled. Then her smile broke, replaced with embarrassment and slight panic. "Oh god, I didn't even think about you."

"What do you mean?" Blake asked, slightly offended.

"I mean, of course I… umm… look, you're missing context." Yang tried to recover.

"Clearly." The faunus replied.

"It's just… well…" Yang tried to find a way to ease this out. "Alright, blunt it is," She decided after nearly a minute of pure thinking, "Ruby might come today."

Blake's eyes opened wide. "What!? Are you sure?"

"I'm not…" Yang shook her head. "I managed to figure out her pattern, intercepted her on her contract. She said she would think about it."

Blake looked to the door. She had also been looking for Ruby for the past seven years, but she had other things she was doing as well… she didn't have Yang's free time, or resources, to decode her old girlfriend's aberrant hunting patterns. It threw her heart into turmoil.

But not as much as the next knock on the door.

Blake stayed in the background while Yang ran to get it and opened it slowly. On the other side was none other than Ruby Rose. The room went silent, marveling the surprise appearance of the redhead. "Hey guys… I'm back…"

The room stayed quiet. No one knew what to say. Eventually Ruby stepped inside and looked around. "Hey Weiss… Hey Yang."

She was immediately pulled into a patented Yang-Hug, nearly bursting her lung. "aahh… breath…"

"Ruby! I'm so glad you came! I was starting to think you decided not to!" Yang shouted, tears of joy coming down her face. "I missed you so much…"

"I… miss… air…" Ruby told her again, and Yang caught on and let her down. The redhead caught her breath. "Oh boy…. I missed you too, Yang, but gahhhhhd…"

"I believe I once told you to come home 'soon'." Weiss approached. "I think I need to get you dictionary."

"Hello to you too, princess." Ruby grumbled. Both girls grew a smile, this little banter reminiscent of their friendly word interaction of the past. "It's good to see you too, Weiss. It's good to see all of you."

"So, how are you?" Yang asked. "And no 'I'm fine' and leave it at that. I need to  _know_."

"I know you do." Ruby nodded. "And you deserve to. I… have something to show you guys. Hopefully, it goes a long way to explaining things…" She backed up to the door and opened it. "Nix! Come on, honey."

"Nix?"

"A guy?"

"She's not into guys."

"Did she leave like that because of a girl?"

"With Blake around? No way." Velvet disputed the last comment.

The small figure entered view. Every single eye in the room was dramatically drawn to one of two places. His bright silver eyes, or his dark black horns. "Everybody," Ruby announced, "This is Phoenix Rose. This is my son."

"Hiya!" He shouted, waving at all of them, too overwhelmed by the size of the room to notice the mood of the air.

No one knew what to say. The truth Ruby had kept hidden for ten years lay plain as day on her child's head. Weiss looked between Phoenix's eyes, Phoenix's mother, and Phoenix's horns. "So… That week you were taken by Adam…"

"Yes." Ruby nodded. "It messed with my head… by the time I was ready to tell anyone, I was already hiding another secret." She squeezed her son's shoulders.

Yang kneeled down, looking over Phoenix closely. She knew Ruby must have kept Phoenix for a reason, and she found that reason deep in those silver irises. She could see the same glow and innocence Ruby once found in these very same eyes. The blonde smiled wide. "You mean to tell me, all this time, I've had an  _adorable_  nephew and didn't even know it!?" She picked him up and spun him around, giving him as tame a 'Yang-Hug' as she could.

By the time she set Phoenix back down, his mother had to kneel down and help stabilize him. He managed to catch his breath and his balance before responding. "You  _must_  be Aunt Yang."

The blonde squeaked. "Weiss, did you hear that!? I'm an Aunt! I've always wanted to be an Aunt! I'll be the best Aunt ever!"

"I'm sure you will." Weiss smiled, turning to Phoenix herself. "Hello, Phoenix. I'm Weiss. Your mother's old partner, and Yang's wife."

"You're Weiss?" He asked. "You're not as crabby as I thought…"

"What does  _that_  mean?" Weiss reeled, glaring at Ruby.

"Hehehe…" Ruby chuckled nervously.

"How…?" A voice spoke up, filled with subtle hints of anger and fear.

Everybody in the room turned their attention to the owner of the question. "Blake…" Yang warned.

"No… I know we're all thinking it." Blake argued. "How can you all ignore it?"

"We're not ignoring anything." Weiss countered.

"How can you keep him?" Blake turned her interrogation on Ruby. "How can you  _stand_  to look at him?"

Ruby stood, her hands still on Phoenix's shoulders, and guided the boy closer to Blake. "Look at his eyes, Blake. Look  _into_  his eyes."

To Blake's credit, she did try. She didn't want this to end badly. But she couldn't lie to herself to make it happen… She looked at Phoenix, and saw Adam…

_Monster_

"He's not Adam." Ruby pressed.

"He's Adam's son." Blake countered.

"He's  _my_  son." Ruby stood her ground.

"I… I…" Blake sighed. "I can't… I'm sorry…" She turned around and walked deeper into the Manor, needing distance from this scenario.

"Looks like I was right…" Ruby lamented.

Yang walked up next to them, intent on bringing the mood back up. "Come on, Rubes. We got a lot to catch up on." She looked down at Phoenix and smiled. "And you and I have some lost time to make up. What's your favorite snack?"

The child looked as though he was genuinely confused. "The… kind you eat?"

Yang slowly looked back to her sister with a wide smirk, and found Ruby couldn't meet her eye. "What? I don't know  _where_  he gets it from…"

"Sure." Yang nodded. "So, if your momma don't mind, I think we're due in the kitchens. Is that okay, Rubes?"

Ruby smiled. She was glad someone wanted to get along with her son. "Of course."

"I'll get us some coffee." Weiss told Ruby. "I do want to ask a few questions, if you don't mind."

"I'll do my best." Ruby nodded.

While she waited for the coffee, Ruby's thoughts lingered on her dear faunus friend. She was hoping that Blake, of all people, could warm up to Phoenix. But her fantasy seemed just that, a fantasy. She thought she would be sad, but after everybody else was willing to give Phoenix a chance, the turn of events frustrated her more than anything.  _Why can't she see? Why can't she see past Adam? Why can't she see my son?_


	13. Chapter 13

Ruby and Weiss found seating that wasn't too far away from Yang and Phoenix in the kitchen. The two groups could see each other, even if they couldn't quite hear each other.

"Thank you, Klein." Weiss nodded to her oldest and most respected butler.

"Of course, Ms. Schnee." He nodded, leaving her and Ruby a pot and two cups of coffee.

"Are you sure coffee is the greatest idea for me?" Ruby asked.

"Blake is the tea drinker, remember?" Weiss reminded her. "Besides, I've heard stories. If Phoenix is even half as energetic as you were at that age, even you would get tired."

"Ah, he's fine." Ruby smiles. "Though I do occasionally take a morning cup. Didn't have it today, so it works out."

"I see." Weiss smiled.

"So, about those questions?" Ruby asked.

"Right into it, huh?" Weiss dropped her gaze. "Ruby, don't get me wrong. I'm not questioning you keeping him, as it's obviously worked out. You seem a great mother, and Phoenix seems a good kid."

"He's a brat." Ruby chuckled. "But a lovable brat."

"So, a dolt?" Weiss smiled at the old joke.

Ruby smiled at it as well. "A dolt."

Weiss took another sip from her coffee, thinking deeply. "Like I said, I'm not saying you shouldn't have kept him. But his origins are obvious. Keeping him couldn't have been your plan from the start. So, what happened?"

"I was going to get rid of him." Ruby confessed. "But the laws in Vale would have required a signature from a family member. Proof that possible mothers had discussed the decision with their loved ones."

"And you didn't want us to know. You would have taken that to your grave." Weiss deduced.

"So I figured 'I have two months left. I'll go somewhere I can do this on my own.' And ended up going to Mistral." Ruby continued.

"That's where you've been living these ten years?" Weiss asked.

Ruby nodded. "Has Yang ever told you about Flora?" Weiss nodded. "I happened to get to Mistral right when the laws were in the air. I couldn't abort there either, and Flora convinced me to carry him, give him up. 'Maybe someone could raise him to not be Adam', I figured."

"And that someone turned out to be you." Weiss smiled.

"Yup. It was his eyes. When I first saw him in that bundle of blankets, all I saw was 'Adam's son'." Ruby recalled. She smiled. "But then he opened his eyes. Only a few hours after birth, he opened his eyes. It was miracle, and just what I needed to see. That's when I saw him as my son. And I fell in love."

"He's lucky." Weiss nodded. "It could have gone a completely different way for him."

"So, what's been happening on this end for the past few years?" Ruby asked, taking a sip of her coffee.

"Nothing you'd be very interested in." Weiss smiled mischievously. "Except that Blake's single again."

Ruby spat out her coffee and nearly dropped her mug. "What!? What happened?"

"She won't say." Weiss shook her head. "But I just thought you would like to know."

"You and Yang both have the worst timing…" Ruby remembered another time the blonde asked her about Blake, back in that coffee shop years ago. "I can't be with Blake if she can't stand Phoenix."

"I don't think that will last." Weiss theorized.

Ruby didn't know, but she didn't feel like voicing her concerns out loud. "What about everyone else? Where's dad and Qrow?"

While the pair continued to catch up, Yang and Phoenix were enjoying themselves in the kitchen. Yang handed Phoenix a gourmet cookie to test.

"That's delicious!" Phoenix shouted. "Momma's is still better, though."

"Yeah, well, it's always different homemade. It's about heart." Yang smiled. "'The more the love, the better the taste.' That's something Summer, your momma's mom, used to say."

"She sounds cool! When can I meet her?" Phoenix asked innocently.

"Oh… She's gone, Phoenix. A very long time ago, now." Yang lamented.

"Oh…" The kid's face fell.

"She was cool." Yang nodded, smiling. "Ruby's a lot like her. Especially now that she's a mom, too. Summer was a huntress, and when she was gone, Ruby wanted to be one. Pick up where she left off."

"Imma be a Huntsmen, too!" Phoenix declared. "Strong! Strong as Momma even!"

Yang smiled. "I'm sure you will. It's not gunna be easy, though. Especially if you want to be strong like your mom. Speaking of… do you know anything about that gold lining on her weapon?"

"She won't let me touch Crescent Rose. 'When I'm older' she says." Phoenix pouted. "I am older!"

"When did she say this?" Yang asked.

"Um… Yesterday." Phoenix admitted. "But I  _am_  older! One day older!"

Yang had to stop laughing before responding. They carried on, but Yang eventually noticed that part of Phoenix's mind was on something else. "Hey, is everything okay?"

Phoenix looked up. "Well… That girl from earlier was Blake, right?"

Yang frowned. "Yeah."

"Momma 'like-like's her, doesn't she?" Phoenix asked.

The blonde sighed. "Yeah… they 'like-like'ed each other a long time ago."

"Does she hate me?" Phoenix reached his main concern.

Yang thought hard. "I don't think she hates you. She just doesn't know you. Did your momma tell you about Adam?"

Phoenix nodded. "He's my daddy, but not my daddy. Not in here." He tapped his chest, over his heart.

"Blake has a bad history with him." Yang told her nephew. "It's harder for her to see past… well…"

Phoenix touched his horns. "I have these because he had these, huh? He had to be a faunus, or I wouldn't be one… that much I know."

Yang reached across the table and tapped them as well. "These are nothing to be ashamed of. These are yours, not his. They are a part of who you are, be proud of them."

The young faunus smiled. "Momma says the same thing. Don't worry, I am." His smile faltered. "It doesn't change where they came from."

They stayed quiet for a second longer before Phoenix spoke up again. "Maybe if Blake talked to me. Then her and Momma could be together again, and momma would be happy."

Yang smiled.  _He just wants his Momma to be happy. That's what this is about._  Her smile failed.  _But..._ "I don't think that's a good idea. Like I said, she's having a hard time coming to terms with you. She could say something we will all regret."

Phoenix nodded, still thinking. "Then what about Momma? Maybe she can talk to Blake about me?"

The cogs of Yang's mind started turning a mile a minute. Her smile returned, larger than ever. "I think I have an idea, little guy…"

* * *

Blake wasn't sure what she was going to do. She spent the last seven years since the day Ruby vanished, the day her and Sun split, dreaming of being with the redhead again. The she finally shows up, quite out of the blue to Blake, and tells everyone she had been raising  _Adam's child._  The faunus woman didn't know what she was going to do about that…

"I mean, Ruby is raising him, right?" Blake thought out loud, "How bad can the kid be if  _Ruby_  is his mother… I bet she's a lot like Summer… that's who she would try and emulate…" But no matter how many times she told herself this, the horns always got in the way.  _Me, judging someone I don't know by the way they look…_  The sudden thought surprised and depressed her.  _Cruel irony._

"I can do it." Blake resolved. "I can get over it… but not right away. There's something I have to do first."

" _Okay… Here's the truth…"_

_Blake leaned forward. His voice still sounded so sincere, full of emotions she hadn't seen in the bull man for a very long time._

" _I did something terrible to her…" Adam continued. "And I'm not surprised she didn't tell you. I… experimented on her." The words seemed difficult for him to say. "I tried to brainwash her. I wanted to see if I could turn her against her own kind. It wasn't exactly a painless technique."_

Adam lied, though. Once again, he lied to her, playing the apologetic villain. And she fell for it all over again. She knew it was within her power to accept Phoenix. But she needed to confront Adam again first.

A knock at the door brought her out of her reverie. Blake opened the door to see Yang standing on the other side. "Hiya, Blake! There you are!"

"Oh, hey Yang. What's up?" Blake asked.

"I just wanted to show you something, come on!" The blonde didn't wait for a yes or no, grabbing Blake's wrist and leading her through the halls. The speed and certainty in which Yang moved impressed the cat faunus. It must have taken her years to learn this labyrinth. Eventually they came to a door that, instead of Yang charging through, she pushed Blake through first.

"Yang, what's going on?" Blake turned to ask, and found only a closed door. She tried the handle. It was locked. Fuming, she turned around and saw another door out of this particular room. She started heading towards it, but her faunus ears heard something that made her freeze.

"Are we close yet, Nix?"

"Real close, Momma!"

"What's going on? What do you want to show me?"

"Something really cool Aunt Yang told me about! In here!"

"Oh yeah?" Ruby walked through the door, and saw Blake. The door slammed and audibly locked behind her. The redhead looked dead on at her surprise companion. "Yang?"

"Yang." Blake nodded.

"Phoenix!" Ruby turned around. "Unlock the door! Phoenix! Grr!" She turned back to Blake.

The faunus looked uneasy. Ruby realized she must have seen her current scolding as her not wanting to be in here with her.  _Quick, think of something… be funny!_  "He only spends five minutes with Yang, and he's already learned mischief." Ruby fumed, hiding her smile. "I mean, he certainly didn't get it from me."

"Adam used to be quite the mischief maker at his age as well." Blake responded, not thinking about it. Then she thought about what she said, her eyes widening. "I'm sorry, Ruby, I didn't mean-"

"Save it." Ruby voice was different. Harder, and sadder. She sat against the wall, sliding down it.

Blake didn't know what to say, and stayed silent.

"Blake," Ruby eventually broke the silence, "do you understand why I hid him for so long? What I was afraid of?" Blake's eyes met Ruby's. "For years, I've had this perfect fantasy." The redhead continued. "One where I had a full, loving family. Me, and you… And Phoenix. But I didn't act on it, because I was also afraid that you wouldn't be able to accept him."

"Ruby…"

"I was amazed that Yang and Weiss accepted him so quickly." Ruby told her. "Maybe they just didn't want me to go again… but whatever reason, at least they're trying."

Blake hung her head, shame filling her.

"Look," Ruby's voice changed again. She didn't want to shame Blake. "I understand if you can't see past it. But Phoenix is the single,  _most important_  thing in my life. He's my son. And if you can't accept his existence… then we can't be together…"

Blake looked up at the woman she had loved despite herself for the past ten years. "I… understand, Ruby. I promise I can accept him… just… maybe not right away…"

Ruby felt her heart escalate. "Well… don't take too long, okay…?"

Blake's own heart jumped at the statement. Both girls smiled.

"Now, I gotta be a parent." Ruby stood up and looked to the locked door. Her fists rested on her hips and she inhaled deeply. "PHOENIX! YANG! OPEN THIS DOOR!" No response. "NOW!"

Slowly the door clicked and started to open. Ruby had to use her semblance to catch Phoenix, and Yang hung back with Blake. "Everything okay?" The blonde asked.

"It will be." Blake replied with confidence.

* * *

Ruby lead Phoenix back into the main hall by his ear. "What did we learn?" The mother scolded.

"Never try to outrun you." Phoenix responded.

"Exactly." Ruby smiled. "Also, don't  _ever_  lock people in rooms against their will. Aunt Yang isn't known for thinking things through, don't do everything she says."

"Yes, Momma." Phoenix rubbed his ear when she let go.

"Hey! I object to that!" Yang shouted from nearby.

"I don't." Weiss barely looked up from her book.

"Aren't you supposed to be on my side?" Yang pouted.

"Please, if I didn't keep your ego in check, it would rival your hair in size." Weiss shot back.

"I thought these rings meant something…" Yang continued pouted.

"They mean I can put you in the doghouse if I feel it's appropriate." Weiss smiled, to Yang's dismay.

"Doghouse?" Phoenix asked. "Why would you do that? It seems cruel…"

The group fell into horrified silence. Yang and Weiss had completely forgot a nine-year-old was in the room, and Ruby glared at them with that look only mothers and teachers perfect.

"I'm not actually going to shove her in a doghouse," Weiss told Phoenix, "it's a phrase."

"Meaning what?" the innocent child asked.

"Umm…" Weiss looked uneasy.

"Well…" Yang rubbed the back of her head.

Ruby sighed. "When you're older." She saved them, taking little Phoenix's youth wrath on herself.

"When will I be older!?" He pouted loudly to no one in particular.

Ruby smirked. "When…"

Phoenix looked up at his mother. "No…"

"You're…"

" _Uuughh."_

" _older…"_  Ruby smiled.

"Oh!" Yang jumped, remembering her conversation with Phoenix earlier. "Hey, Ruby, what's with that gold lining on your scythe? It cut right through that Deathstalker like  _nothing_!"

"Oh, that?" Ruby waved. "Just an experiment, really. It's only the single hardest materiel known to Huntsmen! I may be the first one to actually work it."

"What, like a rare metal? Dust infused? You know I don't know these things." Yang crossed her arms.

"But you know the material." Ruby smirked. "Every Huntsmen and Huntress knows it. It's very stubborn and annoying."

Yang thought hard. A strong material  _all_  Huntsmen and Huntresses knew? Not an alloy if Ruby might be the first to work it… golden color… "Wait…"

"Mmhmm." Ruby nodded.

"No… No way!" Yang stood up.

"Yes way."

"How!?" Yang shouted. "I don't think I've ever seen a fire that made a Deathstalker Stinger even  _glow_! How the hell did you work it into a blade?"

"This next part… you may not like…" Ruby rubbed the back of her head.

"Of course you would do something extremely dangerous for the sake of your weapon fetish." Weiss rolled her eyes.

"It's not a fetish…" Ruby pouted. Phoenix didn't even bother asking.

"What did you do?" The CEO continued. "Quench it in an active volcano?"

"Well…" Ruby's eyes went everywhere but anybody else's.

"Oh my god." Weiss wore a face of incredulity. "You forged it in a volcano."

"I wanted to see if it would work." Ruby shrugged. "I just happened to be fighting grimm at Mount Chrysalis's eruption a few years ago. After finishing the grimm in my sector, I managed to get a few melted into thin blades before the magma began to cool. Then I attached them to new blades to put on Crescent Rose."

"You're insane." Weiss shook her head.

"I was safe!" Ruby defended. "I wasn't going to let myself die."

"As safe as you could be in an active volcano." Weiss rebutted.

"Which is surprisingly safe." Ruby nodded. "Weiss, I'm not going to do anything stupid. A little crazy, maybe, but not  _stupid._ " She squeezed Phoenix's shoulder to prove her point.

Weiss softened and nodded.

"So, speaking of family…" Yang dared tread the dreaded subject. "Are you staying?"

"I'm going back to Mistral." Ruby told them. "Phoenix has school and friends, I have friends. I have a life there, Yang."

"Oh…" Her sister's face fell. The blonde looked to the ground, where a slip of paper entered her vision. She followed the paper to the person holding it.

"The difference is, this time you'll know where I live." Ruby shook the paper. "My address. And Phoenix has a school break in a little while. Maybe we could come out then, if you'll have us for a few weeks?"

Yang brightened up. "Of course! Thank you!" Yang hugged Ruby tight.

"I'm not falling out of your life again, Yang." Ruby returned the hug. "I promise."


	14. Chapter 14

Yang was fidgeting in her seat, excited beyond belief. She wanted to see where Ruby had been living, and meet Ruby's friends. So, it was agreed that Yang would fly out to Mistral as Phoenix's school break started, to sate her curiosity and pick the pair up for three weeks in Atlas. The airship was nearly landed and the blonde's imagination was running wild with what kind of place Ruby lived in. Everything from a two story home to a shack in an alley assaulted her mind, and as the images got darker, she made herself stop.

She showed the taxi driver the address and was soon standing outside the apartment block. It wasn't the worst image she thought of, but she still found herself wondering  _she's lived here for ten years? Have I been in the Manor for too long?_  She walked up the steps and knocked on the door.

"Aunt Yang! Aunt Yang! Aunt Yang is here!" Yang heard Phoenix's excited voice from inside the doorway.

"Hold on, Phoenix." Ruby giggled. She opened the door slowly and smiled when she saw that it was indeed Aunt Yang. "Hey-a, sis!"

"Hey, Momma!" Yang teased, a habit she picked up quickly spending time with Phoenix at the Reunion.

"Aunt Yang, Aunt Yang!" Phoenix bounced and shouted. "Can I show Aunt Yang around?"

"Yes, you can." Ruby smiled.

"Alright, tour guide, where to first?" Yang asked Phoenix.

By the time Flora showed up, Yang had been in Phoenix's room where the tour ended for nearly twenty minutes, playing with the kid while Ruby watched and secretly recorded. "You have a lot of toys." Yang noted.

"I made some of 'em. Like my sword!" He pulled out the wooden 'blade', that had the appearance of a traditional a katana. "This used to be a branch on the tree outside!"

"Very good." Yang nodded, taking the toy weapon. It actually was surprisingly durable for something carved from a branch, even a thick one.

"And this one!" Phoenix shouted, grabbing his precious grimm doll. "This is Beo! He's my favorite!"

"He looks like he's been around the block." Yang pointed out, poking the missing eye.

"Beo's been his bedtime stuffed animal since he was a baby." Ruby told her sister. The group heard the lock click open on the front door.

"Ruby~! You still here?" Flora's voice sounded out.

"We're in Nix's room!" Ruby called out.

Flora entered a second later. "Ash couldn't come."

Ruby frowned. "Couldn't? Or wouldn't?"

Flora's gaze dropped to the floor.

"What happened? Who's Ash?" Yang asked.

"Ash is a… friend of Flora's. We tried dating once, but it didn't end well. I don't see her often anymore." Ruby explained.

"Why not?" Yang asked.

"She wasn't who I wanted to be with." Ruby answered absent-mindedly. "And it showed."

"Oh…" Yang rubbed the back of her head. "You must be Flora!" Yang smiled at the nurse. "I'm Aunt Yang!"

" _Aunt_  Yang, is it?" Flora smiled.

"Hey, what the little man says, goes." Yang answered. "Aint that right, Momma?"

"Maybe with you, but I actually have to parent him occasionally." Ruby resisted.

"Laaame." Yang shook her head. "So, Flora… I guess I want to thank you for sistering my sister while I couldn't."

"It was the least I could do." Flora smiled. "Ruby is a good friend, and Phoenix is a good kid."

"And now, I'm kidnapping them!" Yang declared.

Flora giggled. "Well, then, I'll just have to watch the house until you release them."

"You got everything you need?" Ruby asked her friend.

"Yup. You have fun." Flora nodded.

"Alright." Ruby and Phoenix simultaneously held out their hands like they were cuffed. "Take us away, Aunt Yang!"

"Alright, you're comin' with me!" Yang pushed them out the door. The whole group wore huge smiles.

* * *

Adam was pushed through the hallways until he reached the visiting cells. All that separated him from his guest was a double-pane of shatter-proof glass. Even powerful physical semblances fell short against this transparent wall. On the other side sat Blake Belladonna, looking decidedly less than cheerful. She wore the same expression she wore the first time she visited. It made the bull-man uneasy.

"You haven't visited in a while." He tried to joke. "I was beginning to think you had given up on me."

"Maybe I have." Blake stated coldly.

Adam was taken aback. "Blake… What's wrong?"

Blake looked disgusted to see him. "I fell for it. All over again. I've wanted to see you do better for so long… And you keep using it. Using me. You lied to me, Adam. Right from the start. And I fell for it."

"I don't understand…" Adam kept his mask of hurt.

"Bullshit." Blake wasn't falling for it any more. She wasn't ever going to make the mistake of trusting Adam again. "You told me, you  _promised_ , that you confessed everything you did to Ruby. But you lied. I don't even know if you did what you said you did, and you certainly didn't tell me everything."

"Blake, what is-" The bull man stopped. His features changed, and his mask fell. Once again, he wore the cold expression of an emotionless person. "She came back, didn't she?"

The change didn't surprise Blake in the least. "Yes."

"I see." They just stood there for a long time.

"You almost had it, too." Blake finally spoke up, standing and turning to leave. "I was almost ready to try and get you out of here. But now I  _know_  the truth. And you won't see the light of day for a  _very_  long time."

"Tell me something, Blake. Because I'm curious." Adam told her, stopping her mid-step.

"Why should I grant you anything?" Blake asked pointedly.

"Consider it a last request. Because what you're giving me might as well be a death sentence." Adam proposed.

Blake's eyes narrowed, but she stood still.

"It still couldn't have been easy for her to talk about. So how did it happen? How did the truth come out? Did you force it?" Adam asked her, voice full of accusation. He was looking for anything he could use against Blake.

But what the cat girl had for him wasn't what he expected. She rounded on him, hoping what she had to deliver would hurt him. "She came back, Adam. And she brought someone with her. A son, Adam. A beautiful child you can never claim as your own. A son that you will  _never_  get to even see." She told him coldly.

It seemed to have the intended effect. Adam was visibly shaken by the revelation, unnerved. His gaze fell to the ground, head full of thoughts. Blake walked away, allowing herself one triumphant smirk as she stepped through the door.

* * *

Phoenix was enjoying himself at The Manor, his first real experience in being spoiled. And it was the full package, Weiss having asked Klein if he was okay being the child's personal butler for the duration of his stay. She trusted the man more than she ever did her own father, and she was secretly jealous.  _Why am I still Weiss? Why can't I be Aunt Weiss?_

"Geez, Weiss. Catching right up on the 'spoiling aunt' aren't you?" Ruby accused her one day.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Weiss scolded, her face turning red.

"Yeah, yeah. Even Yang doesn't spoil him as much as you seem to be trying." Rub told her.

"Somebody has too." Weiss defended. "Isn't there always that one spoiler in the family?"

"I think my dad will be mad you took it from him." Ruby stated. "Y'know, you could just ask him if you're that bent up about it?"

"That wouldn't feel right." Weiss confessed. "I can't just ask him to call me something he doesn't see me as."

"Speaking of dad, isn't he gonna show up?" Ruby asked Weiss. "Yang said something about it."

"He should be here tomorrow." The CEO answered. "Yang told him about Phoenix already. She was too excited about being an Aunt to keep it in. He's coming with the express purpose of meeting his grandson." Weiss turned to face Ruby head on. "He also explicitly restricted any 'old man' jokes."

"Who, me?" Ruby asked.

"More Yang," Weiss admitted, "but you, too."

"Hi Momma!" Phoenix called out. "What'chu two talkin' about?"

Weiss opened her mouth, but Ruby interrupted. "Weiss here was just wondering why you don't call her Aunt."

"Ruby!?" The CEO was shocked.

Phoenix looked in deep though for a moment. "Well, you aren't related to me by blood… I guess I hadn't thought of you as family like that. But you are married to Aunt Yang, so I guess you  _are_  Aunt Weiss. I'm sorry."

Weiss blushed. "N-no need to apologize, Phoenix. It's okay, I understand."

Phoenix smiled. "So,  _Aunt_  Weiss, what were you two really talking about?"

"Your grandfather should be coming by tomorrow." Weiss answered. "Are you ready to meet him?"

"Mmmm-hmmm!" Phoenix nodded enthusiastically.

While this was happening at the Manor, Yang was a few blocks away catching up with Blake. It was a regular thing to meet at that same coffee shop. After the normal pleasantries and minor conversation, Yang was ready to broach the topic that had been burning in her head since before she even showed up at the café. "Imma go to the bathroom real quick." She told Blake. "Then I have something I want to ask you."

"Alright." Blake nodded, sipping her hot tea while she waited for the blonde to return. Her scroll started to buzz in her pocket, and she took it out to frown at the caller ID.  _Valen Penitentiary. Again._ She answered reluctantly, and brought the scroll to her ear. "Adam, stop calling me. The answer is still no."

"I  _need_  to see him. One visit." Adam pleaded. Since the cat woman's last visit three weeks ago now, Adam would call her regularly, asking the same thing. He wanted to see his son.

Except Blake knew better. She didn't trust Adam in Phoenix's presence. And Phoenix was  _not_  Adam's son. "Forget the idea of it, Adam. And  _stop_  calling me." Blake hung up as Yang exited the bathroom. The blonde didn't see her on her scroll. "So, what did you want to ask?"

"Well…" Yang started, "you see… Ruby's going to be in town for a while. I was wondering if you wanted to come up to the Manor… See her, y'know?"

"You want to know if I'm ready for Phoenix." Blake told her, seeing it in an instant. "I think I am, Yang. I would like to see Ruby. But I don't want to surprise her. Tell her I'll show up tomorrow."

"Well, dad's actually coming to meet Phoenix tomorrow." Yang told her.

"The next day, then. I'll find something to do until then." Blake nodded. "No need to overwhelm her."

"She'll be happy to see you, I'm sure." Yang smiled. It had been too long since the two had last been together. The sister was more than happy to help bring them back.

That night, Blake got another call from the prison in Vale. This time, she let it go to voicemail.

* * *

Taiyang and Qrow were already in the main hall of the manor by the time Ruby woke up the next morning. She sleepily walked into the kitchens to grab a bowl of cereal and waved to her father and uncle on the way. The pair heard a crash from the kitchen as Ruby dashed back in to see them. "You're… here."

"Yup." Taiyang nodded. "We are."

"I thought you guys wouldn't be here until later…" Ruby approached the pair closely before pulling them into a tight group hug. "I missed you both…"

"Coulda come by." Qrow pointed out. "Or at least called."

"I'm sorry…" Ruby lamented as they all let go. "I lost all my old numbers along with my old scroll, and then I've just been… busy. Busy with Phoenix, with my life in Mistral."

"Believe it or not, I understand." Taiyang assured. "I've got kids of my own, y'know." He smiled. "I have missed you. Speaking of Phoenix, where is the little guy?"

"Still asleep. He can be hard to wake up some days." Ruby told him. "Surprised there's no Yang in him, sometimes."

"He's got me." Taiyang reminded his daughter.

"I can go fetch him, if you would like to catch up, Ms. Rose." Klein arrived from the kitchen, where he had just swept up Ruby's spilt cereal.

"I'd rather get him, if you don't mind." Ruby assured him. She didn't like the feeling of pawning off motherly duties on the well paid and willing butler, even if he was Phoenix's personal butler according to Weiss for the duration of their stay. The butler nodded, understanding.

Ruby made it back to the room they borrowed and opened the door to see Phoenix already waking up and rubbing his eyes. He yawned deeply and looked towards his mother. Seeing her made him smile. "Good morning, momma…"

"Good morning, sweetheart." Ruby patted his head affectionately. "How did you sleep?"

"Good." He stretched. "Imma miss these beds when we go back home…"

"I'm sure Aunt Weiss will let you keep a mattress, maybe even a pillow or two, if you ask nicely." Ruby told him. She was considering doing the same herself. Apparently, these were high class beds for an extremely active lifestyle, such as the lifestyle of a huntress. The CEO had bought them for Yang. Ruby could see why, they worked wonders on sore muscles. "You ready to meet your grandpa?"

Phoenix's eyes went wide. He was learning he had a lot of family he never knew about. She smiled wide. "Is he here!?"

"Yup!" Ruby told him, them both smiling wide.

"Let's go, let's goooo!" Phoenix grabbed his mothers hand and led her from the room.

The pair ran right into Weiss halfway through the halls, taking them all down to the ground. The CEO sat up and stared at Ruby and Phoenix, who were still dazed on the floor. "You are definitely your mother's child." Weiss noted, looking at Phoenix. "Have you seen Taiyang yet?"

"We were on our way." Ruby nodded. "Sorry about that."

"At least I'm not carrying any dust this time, crater face." Weiss teased.

"Whas that mean?" Phoenix asked.

"Later." Ruby brushed off.

Weiss smirked. "Your mother here made a wonderful first impression when we first met, tripping over my luggage and blowing up half my Dust."

"It was one bottle!" The young mother defended.

"Still made a nice crater." Weiss noted offhandedly.

"hmph." Ruby pouted as her son started giggling.

"Well? Your father's waiting." Weiss reminded her old partner.

Ruby nodded and took Phoenix down the halls at a more controlled pace.

* * *

Yang walked into the kitchen for her bowl of cereal to meet the inviting smell of fresh breakfast. "Mmm… I thought you didn't cook on the weekdays, Klein?" The blonde asked before actually seeing the room. She froze when she realized Klein wasn't even in the room. Taiyang, Qrow, and Phoenix were all playing a board game at the kitchen table while Ruby was dancing around the kitchen making omelets, coffee, waffles, and bacon all at once. "Woah…"

"Geez, Yang, I never thought you would settle into being rich quite  _that_  far." Ruby teased.

"You're cooking breakfast? And not burning any of it?" Yang asked incredulously.

"I'm a mother now, Yang." Ruby reminded her, perfectly cracking two eggs with one hand and the side of the pan, pouring out the contents without getting shell in the pan. "I've picked up a few new tricks. It's pretty fun, actually."

"I see." Yang nodded and walked over to the table. "Room for one more?" She asked the board game group.

"Sure!" Taiyang happily let Yang in the game, even gave her some extra play money to catch up.

"I guess you guys are getting along okay?" Yang asked the table

"As long as we don't mention the gray in Grandpa's hair, apparently." Phoenix told her, completely ignorant of his bluntness.

Taiyang glared while Yang and Qrow suppressed laughs. "What?" Phoenix seemed genuinely confused, and the others couldn't hold their laughter anymore.

The game was put on pause while Ruby served seven plates of breakfast. Taiyang, Qrow, Phoenix, Yang, Ruby herself, and Weiss dug in. The seventh plate was apparently for Klein, because Ruby wanted to pay him back for his kindness, even if he was a paid servant. It took a bit of convincing, but they could tell he was happy to be invited.

Yang was searching for an in to talk about Blake, but was cut off by Taiyang before she found one. "So, Rubes," Her father asked, "have you spoken to Blake at all?"

Ruby froze. "Why would you ask about that?"

"Ruby, I had seen you date a number of times. A small number, thankfully, but enough to see that Blake was the only one who didn't have to compete with Crescent Rose for your attention." Taiyang pointed out.

Ruby looked down at her plate. "I don't know… I'd like to, but-"

"Wait." Yang held up her hand. "Before you continue, you should know… I spoke to Blake yesterday. She wants to see you, Ruby. She'll be here tomorrow, in fact."

The redhead was in deep thought for sometime.

Klein intervened this time. "Perhaps it is best if Ms. Rose and Ms. Belladonna had some time to themselves to have a civil discussion. I could take young Phoenix out for, say, ice cream when Ms. Belladonna arrives?"

"I think that's actually a good idea." Weiss nodded. "You'd only have to worry about what you'll say to Blake."

"Better than no plan, anyway." Qrow gave his two cents.

Ruby looked up at the group. "Why does it matter to all of you anyway?"

"Because we want you to be happy." Yang answered. "And we know Blake makes you happy. Even after all this time."

Ruby sighed and smiled. "Alright. I'll trust you guys. And thank you."

Yang smiled. Everything was finally falling back together, even the most perfect match she'd ever seen, outside her own with Weiss of course. Life was finally returning to normal, to what it should be, for the first time since Beacon all those years ago.


	15. Chapter 15

The next morning Ruby felt like a schoolgirl nervous about her first date. She was in the bathroom for about three hours, until Phoenix got impatient and knocked on the door. "Momma?" He asked, "I need to use the bathroom…"

"Oh!" Ruby exclaimed, "Sorry, sweetheart. I'll be right out!"

Ruby stepped out and smiled, letting her son into the bathroom. Halfway into the door, Phoenix spoke up. "You look fine, Momma. You'll do great."

Ruby settled a little. "Thank you, Phoenix."

By noon the pair made it out to the kitchen, where Klein and Weiss were waiting. "Are you ready for today, Ruby?" Weiss asked her old partner.

"No." Ruby responded honestly. "In ten years, I've been on three dates. It's been too long, I don't remember how to do this."

"You'll be fine. Besides, you've been with Blake. This isn't some new stranger, it's someone who already knows and wants you." Weiss assured.

"I know." Ruby took a deep breath. She turned to Phoenix. "You excited for ice cream?"

"Yeah huh!" Phoenix cried.

Weiss walked up. "So, Phoenix-"

Ruby tensed, sensing Weiss's incoming attempt to spoil. "Hey, Weiss, can I talk to you for a minute?" The redhead interrupted, dragging Weiss deeper into the kitchen.

Weiss was taken by surprise and turned around once they were alone. "What's going on?"

"Weiss…" Ruby treaded carefully. "Can you calm down on spoiling Phoenix, please?"

"What do you mean?" Weiss asked, a little hurt.

"Weiss, we've only been here a week, and you've already spoiled him  _far_  more than he's used to." Ruby explained. "You've bought him dozens of things, had Klein be his  _personal_ butler… I don't want him getting used to it. I don't want him asking for this kind of treatment at the wrong times. The reason I'm still raising him in Mistral the way I am is because I want him to have a normal childhood. I hope you understand…"

Weiss was quiet for a minute. "I think I understand," she nodded, "And I'll try to do better. I mean, I'll still spoil him, but… let me know if it gets to be too much."

"I will." Ruby nodded. "Thank you."

The girls left the kitchen and returned to Phoenix and Klein. Ruby knelt in front of Phoenix and handed him some Lein cards. "Go crazy, and don't hurt your stomach." Ruby smiled.

"Thank you, Momma!" Phoenix shouted, bouncing in place.

"Blake should be here in about ten minutes, maybe twenty." Weiss announced.

"We'll be on our way then." Klein nodded. He took Phoenix's hand and the pair left for their afternoon treat.

* * *

"What do I say, what do I say…"

Ruby was pacing her room, trying to figure out what she was going to do.

"So I missed you, and I'd like to try us… oh no, too strong… Hey? How is Sun? Oh, dummy! Don't talk about Sun! That's stupid! Umm… start small… it's been seven years… so just… Hey Blake! How are you?"

"I'm fine, Ruby."

"AAHHHH!"

Ruby jumped and whipped around to see the faunus she had spent many nights dreaming of reuniting with. "Oh… uhh… hey Blake… hehehe…"

Blake smiled, glad to see she wasn't the only one nervous about this visit. "How have you been?"

"I've been… good." Ruby nodded, still catching her breath. "I've been good."

"Good." Blake nodded.

Ruby looked Blake over. The faunus girl hadn't changed much in seven years. Her hair was a little longer than Ruby remembered, and she had stopped wearing her bow a long time ago. She held herself differently than Ruby recalled in recent memory as well, a little more confident, a little more mature. "You look good." Ruby smiled.

Blake smiled back. It had been a while since the faunus had even seen the person of her desires, and now she was able to get a real good look at her. Ruby had kept her hair trimmed to the same style of her days at Beacon, and while she had a slightly different jacket, she still sported her corset and combat skirt for her day wear. Her old hood wasn't present, and Blake suspected she knew who had it these days. Now that she knew Ruby was a mother, it was obvious in her presence and the way she held herself. "You look good too."

Ruby's smile grew. "So… umm…"

Blake quietly walked close and hugged Ruby tightly. "I missed you so much."

Ruby returned the hug. "I know… I'm sorry."

"It's okay." Blake assured her. "I understand. Maybe I didn't get it at first. But I do now, I think. I'm the one who should be sorry."

"You don't have to be sorry." Ruby told her. "Really, you only acted in the only way I could have expected  _any_  of you to. I didn't exactly make all the best choices. I just wanted to raise Phoenix. I want him to be happy."

Blake nodded. "You need to be happy too, Ruby. After  _everything_  you have been through, you deserve it."

"That's why you're here, right?" Ruby dared ask.

Blake smiled wide. "Why don't I take you somewhere? We can have lunch, if you haven't eaten already?"

Ruby was about to answer, but Blake's scroll went off in her pocket. She pulled it out and checked the screen with a scowl. From the other side, Ruby read the reversed text of the caller ID. "Why are you getting calls from Vale's prison?"

Blake was hesitant to answer. After everything, would it damage their return to admit she had been talking to Adam again?  _But if anyone would understand, it would be her… just explain from the beginning. No more secrets._  Blake sat down on the bed, setting her scroll next to her as she let it ring.

"When you left seven years ago," Blake began her story, "It did… little to ease my mind. Sun and I broke up the next day, he knew how I  _still_  felt about you in spite of everything and ended it. It was a wake up call for me. I had to find you. But I also had to know what happened to you, so I went to the only source I could."

"Adam…" Ruby spoke softly. She sat next to Blake and motioned for her to continue.

Blake was happy Ruby was listening, and pressed on. "I asked him to tell me everything, and he said things that made sense. I spent the next few years meeting him occasionally. He came off like he was doing better. I was starting to trust him." Blake's face darkened. "But when you showed up, when I saw Phoenix… I learned he was lying to me. He was playing to my desire to see him recover. He never told me about… that. Did he ever try to brainwash you?"

"No." Ruby shook her head.

"I knew it… what he told me wasn't even true…" Blake growled. "I trusted him. I made the same mistakes…" She took a deep breath. "I visited him one last time, to tell him it was over. I'm not making that mistake again. Since then, he hasn't stopped calling."

Ruby nodded.

Blake shook her self off and put a smile back on her face. "Anyway, let's forget all that for now? Lunch?"

Ruby nodded, finding her own smile again. "Lunch."

Blake stood up, and hesitated. "Umm… So, I may have drunk an entire pot of tea to calm my nerves before coming over here…"

Ruby giggled. "There's a connected bathroom, that door." Ruby pointed it out and Blake graciously followed the direction.

While Ruby waited for her date, Blake's scroll buzzed on the bed beside her. 'Valen Penitentiary' was again clear on the caller ID.

_Adam's on the other side of that line._

Without much thought, the scroll was in the redhead's hands. She had no idea what to expect, or what she was going to say. Curiosity overwhelmed her, and she answered the call.

Blake exited the bathroom to the sight of Ruby holding the faunus's scroll to her ear, a look of absolute horror on her face. Before Blake could ask anything, Ruby started talking to whoever was on the line. "Are you sure!?... No, I'm not… Well, this is her scroll… Just tell me, are you serious!? How long ago!? WHAT!?"

Ruby lowered the scroll. The call was still active, and Blake could see the look of utter shock on her face.

"Ruby, what's wrong?" Blake asked.

"He's gone… Adam escaped."

"What!? When!?" Blake shouted, instantly regretting all her missed calls from the prison. How many calls were the guards trying to tell her?

"Just a few nights ago… he could be anywhere by now…" Ruby sank onto the bed. She was semi-prepared to handle talking to Adam. This was far beyond anything she could prepare for.

"But… why?" Blake asked herself. "If he could have just escaped the whole time, why manipulate me?"

"A glowing commendation from a huntress?" Ruby answered. "Being released in good standing with the law would help his plans, I'm sure. But what  _are_  his plans? Why break out now?"

As Blake contemplated the many possible reasons Adam would hastily abandon other plots in favor of an obvious breakout, she came across a horrifying thought.  _Phoenix…_

"What?" Ruby's voice came out short, hardened and accusatory.

Blake spun around, and realized she spoke her thought aloud.

"What about Phoenix?" Ruby pressed on.

"Ruby…" Blake tried to calm the young mother down.

"Does Adam know about Phoenix?" Ruby's anger kept rising. "Did you tell Adam about my son!?"

Blake's composure shattered. She came here hoping to finally repair their relationship, but everything had gone so wrong, so quickly. "I'm sorry…"

Ruby turned on her heel and stormed out of the room. She walked the halls at speed, arriving at the kitchen to see Weiss and Yang. "Do you know what shop Klein took Phoenix to?" Ruby asked.

Weiss read her energy with the expertise of a businesswoman, and looked to Yang uneasily. "I believe so…"

"Take me." Ruby commanded.

"Rubes, what's going on?" Yang asked.

"No time." Ruby shook her head. "I need to get to Phoenix."

"All right." Weiss stood up quickly, not understanding why the situation was so dire, but nonetheless Ruby was on a motherly rampage.

They were walking down the front steps and getting into the vehicle when Blake showed up, and Ruby spun back around to face her. Pointing a finger at her, she only had one word. " _Stay._ "

Blake froze and nodded hesitantly. Ruby and Weiss climbed into the car and took off, and Yang grabbed Blake's shoulder. "Let's grab bumblebee."

The faunus nodded at the idea, having to see what happened. For better or worse.

* * *

The front of the ice cream store looked like chaos had ensued, and people were standing outside with the police. Most were either confused or being questioned, except for one man in the back of an ambulance. "Klein!" Weiss shouted. Ruby followed closely. "What happened here?" The CEO asked her most trusted servant.

"It happened so fast…" The older man winced as he shifted on the bed. He wasn't badly injured, thankfully.

"Phoenix?" Ruby asked him.

Klein looked away. "I tried to stop him. That's why I'm here. But I can only do so much… he's gone."

"Who would take Phoenix?" Weiss asked, watching Ruby as she stepped away.

"The man with the horns, the one your father was always raving about." Klein told Weiss.

Ruby spotted Blake in the crowd and stormed over to her.

Blake's concern was obvious, but Ruby was far too gone to see it. "Is everything okay?" The faunus tried to ask. "Where's-"

Blake flinched as Ruby's fist swung. Yang managed to catch her sister's fist, and pushed it away. "Ruby, calm down! There's no way Blake could have known this would happen!"

"Shut up!" Ruby shouted.

"No! You know Blake would never endanger anyone on purpose, especially you! And she knows how important Phoenix is to you!" Yang argued.

Ruby glared at Blake. The young mother only cared that her child was in danger. Everything else might as well have been smoke. "Maybe she didn't mean it to happen. But it still happened."

"I'm sorry…" Blake pleaded.

Weiss ran up to the rest of them. "I'm having Atlas Military lock down ports, airship yards, train stations… It'll be very difficult for him to leave the kingdom."

"You sure?" Ruby asked. "This is Adam we're talking about." The bull-man in question had escaped them numerous time during the four years they balanced fighting the White Fang with schooling.

"I mean... you're right... this is Adam we're talking about…" Weiss slowly admitted.

Ruby clenched her fists. "That's not good enough."

"Ruby." Weiss placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You need to calm down. You need to accept that… we may not get him back in an afternoon."

"You don't know that!" Ruby screamed, throwing Weiss's hand away.

"Don't lose yourself, Ruby." Weiss warned. "Phoenix is going to need his momma at her  _best_  to bring him home."

"I can't treat him like another contract." Ruby spat. "He's my son!"

"I know." Weiss stood her ground. "And I know you'll tear the whole world apart to bring him back if you have too. I'm just saying, don't go straight to world-tearing. We're all here to help you."

Ruby turned to look over her friends. Weiss smiled, having already said her bit, and Ruby managed a small smile back. Yang pumped her fist and spouted off a "You know It!" making Ruby giggle a little. The redhead's eyes fell on Blake. The cat faunus didn't try a smile, but she did make a subtle nod. Ruby's smile halted, her emotions conflicting.

The young mother managed a deep breath. "All my skills… and I still can't just go out there and find him, huh?"

"We'll figure this out." Yang assured. "He can't have gone far. He must still be in Atlas."

"We'll get him back, Ruby." Weiss assured once again. "Whatever it takes."

Ruby looked over the wreckage of the ice cream shop, turning until she was facing the city at large. "Stay strong, Phoenix. Momma is coming."

* * *

Phoenix woke up with a bit of a headache. He looked around and saw he was in what appeared to be a large storage container of some sorts. The vibrations at his feet came in steady rhythm, and the sounds seemed familiar. He had never been in one himself, but Phoenix was certain he was in a train car. He looked up and across from him to see a tall man sitting on a crate, looking at him. Long black coat, dark hair… and horns atop his head. The boy was far from stupid. He knew who this was.

"I see you're awake." Adam told him.

Phoenix looked around. "Where… are we going?"

"Do you know who I am?" Adam asked, ignoring the child's question.

"What do you want from me?" Phoenix continued.

"What did your mother tell you about me?" Adam resisted.

Both parties stared each other down, each trying to break the other's will with glares alone. Adam eventually stood, decided to break the standoff as a tie. "I know the kind of slanderous filth your mother would raise you under. You've been living under lies. Lies of equality. Lies of so-called 'freedom'." Adam faced Phoenix with narrow eyes. "This is coming to an end. It's time for truth."

"Momma has told me plenty about you." Phoenix spoke up. "You're a bad man. You like to trick people with words. There's no reason to believe anything you say."

"Unless  _that_  is your mother's biggest lie." Adam told him.

"My mother didn't have to kidnap me to try and teach me her truths." Phoenix pointed out.

Adam backhanded Phoenix sharply. The boy fell to the ground. "It seems your mother's behind on discipline as well. We have a lot to catch up on."

"I answered one of your questions." Phoenix defiantly spat. "Answer mine. Where are we-"

Adam kicked Phoenix to quiet him. "You have no such right. Not until you earn it. Living under a human, you're no better than they are. I will teach you the importance of your proper heritage."

Phoenix quietly cried for his mother, but didn't expect her to come crashing through the door. He may have been young, but he had also been reading and studying on huntsmen and huntresses since he was old enough to read. He knew help may not come right away. But he also knew he wasn't on his own.  _I do trust Momma… and Aunt Yang, Aunt Weiss, and Blake too! They'll come for me! I just have to last that long. I love you momma._

"Are you even listening!?"

_Thud!_

_Please come soon…_


	16. Chapter 16

An unused room in Atlas Manor was quickly outfitted as a central HQ in searching for Adam and Phoenix. Seemingly overnight, a small group of huntsmen and huntresses that all knew Ruby in one way or another had gathered to pay back old debts. Blake noted how much this scene reminded her of a day over ten years ago, when Ruby was being held by the same man. Ruby was looking over all the reports for the last few days, reports of ex-White Fang agents.

"Adam's been busy, even behind a cell." Ruby noted. She set down the papers and began fiddling with her locket. "He must have been planning his comeback for years."

"Only a few of these people are still unaccounted for." Someone pointed out. "The rest we're keeping tabs on. They're either outright refusing Adam or laying low, not revealing his position."

"Assuming all the unaccounted are with Adam, how many does that make?" Ruby asked.

"A small force. Ten, maybe fifteen." They answered.

"I see…" Ruby thought for a moment. "When we find where they are, Phoenix will be there too."

"We know. We'll be careful." The other nodded and walked away.

"Weiss!"

Weiss, Ruby, and Blake all turned to the door as Winter walked through and called her sister's attention.

"Winter. What did you find?" Weiss asked her.

"Atlas was quickly locked down like you asked." Winter told her. "But one train left  _after_  the lockdown. The conductor had a timetable that was interrupted by the lockdown, all it took was a small bribe."

"Are we sure it was Adam who paid the bribe?" Weiss questioned.

"He described a man in a dark hood with a deep, calm voice, carrying a 'sleeping child'." Winter answered.

"That sounds like Adam…" Blake nodded.

"And that means he really can be anywhere in the kingdom by now, maybe anywhere in Remnant. He certainly won't be in Atlas." Ruby deadpanned.

"Agreed." Winter nodded.

"How are we going to find them?" Blake asked.

"We search. Adam and his followers will have to stick their heads out eventually. We only need to catch one slip up." Ruby told them. "And then we'll have them. All we need is one person, and we'll make them talk." The mother finished darkly.

"Ruby…" Weiss placed a hand on her shoulder. "I know you're angry, but don't lose yourself."

Ruby took a deep breath and nodded. She began to walk out of the room. "Where are you going?" Blake asked.

"To rest. I need my sleep. I need to be strong for Phoenix." Ruby told her. The mother made her way to the room she shared with her son while at the manor. His bed lay empty of all but one little object. Ruby picked up Beo and brought the doll over to her own bed, holding it close as she fell asleep.

* * *

Phoenix woke up, taking in his surroundings. "Still in the caves…"

Once the train started slowing down, Adam knocked Phoenix out to move him. The next time the child woke, he was already in the caves. He had no idea what continent he was on, let alone the closest kingdom. He wasn't allowed outside, he couldn't even leave this chamber without permission. As far as he could tell, it was one of the larger chambers of the complex, repurposed into a large bedroom for the child.

On the other side of the room, Adam sat waiting. "Good morning, Isan."

"My name is Phoenix." The boy replied defiantly.

"That's the name  _she_  gave you." Adam told him. "That's not your name."

"My name is Phoenix." Phoenix repeated.

"She's not coming you know." Adam announced. "Even if she wanted to, she doesn't have the strength."

"You don't know my momma at all." Phoenix continued to rebel.

"Do you know why the faunus are discriminated against?" The bull man asked. "Have you ever given real thought? Because I have."

The bull child raised his eyebrow. He wouldn't admit out loud that he was intrigued by the philosophy of the subject, even if it was prosed by a madman.

"Take away aura, take away semblances, and what's the real difference between a single human and a single faunus?" Adam asked.

"Our animal traits." Phoenix answered.

"Which make us naturally stronger." Adam nodded. "Humans aren't stupid. They know this. And for thousands of years, they put us down, drug us in the dirt… because they're afraid of us."

"We're different, sure…" Phoenix countered. "But how could an entire race decide to hate us because we're stronger?"

"It's in their nature." Adam explained. "Humans hate treating anybody equally, even each other. The faunus were simply a common enemy."

"But many humans are taking strides for equality." Phoenix pointed out. "They can learn. We all can."

"I have learned." Adam stated darkly. "Learned that humans disrupted the natural order. The strong belong on top. When the White Fang was under Belladonna's control, it was weak.  _Equality_  is weak. I'm putting the faunus where we rightfully belong!"

"Belladonna?" Phoenix questioned.

"That fool Ghira." Adam answered.

 _Maybe Blake's dad?_  Phoenix shook the curious incident off. "Equality isn't weak. If we really are stronger than them, we have to be better than them."

"We  _are_  better than them." Adam finished the conversation. "You'll see. That woman won't be able to steal you from me again. Then you can be raised properly, Isan."

The door shut loudly, leaving the child alone. "My name is  _Phoenix_." He scolded the empty space where his so-called father used to be. Adam thought his work was done for the day, but he completely missed the meaning behind what Phoenix had said. If the faunus really were stronger, they had to prove they were better than the humans. Rather than elevate themselves as the humans once did, they had to prove they were happy to share the same space. They had to prove that faunus were equal to humans, and that humans were equal to faunus.

* * *

Phoenix was left alone until the very next day. One of the others entered his room to bring him breakfast and waited while he ate. Phoenix stared down the man while working through his eggs. "Why are you still here?"

"My orders are to bring you to the training hall once you're finished eating." The faunus man told him. Phoenix couldn't see any physical animal trait.

"Why?" The child asked.

"All I know are my orders." The man replied. Phoenix watched closely, and saw a flicker of a snake's tongue.

"Right…" Phoenix shook his head. What use was superior animal traits when you subjugated yourself to a monster like Adam?

He finished his meal quickly, and with no other choice, followed Viper (which wasn't his name, but Phoenix had to call him  _something_  in his head) to the 'training hall'. In reality, it was just another cavern in the cave complex, only larger than the others and outfitted with training dummies and sparring weapons. Adam stood in the center of the room. He held his own weapon in one hand, and with the other, he examined Phoenix's wooden katana.

"Good morning, Isan." Adam greeted.

"My name is Phoenix." Phoenix denied yet again.

"You'll be ready to take your true name soon enough." Adam responded. "Has your mother taught you anything about fighting yet?"

"A little…" Phoenix answered. "Basics."

"I grew up outside the kingdoms. By the time I was your age, I could hold my own against adults." Adam told the child. "Your mother has sheltered you. You're weak."

"You really got a complex with things being 'weak'…" Phoenix noted under his breath.

"Interesting choice." Adam noted, holding the wooden sword to Phoenix. "We have more in common than you know."

Phoenix took the toy, and stared at the weapon in Adam's other hand. The solid black sheath obviously held a blade of similar make to the style Phoenix's toy sword attempted to replicate. "What is this? Why would you teach a prisoner how to fight?"

"Prisoner?" Adam seemed surprised. "You're no prisoner. I rescued you. Rescued you from a life of weakness, to bring you where you rightfully belong! That woman stole you from me, hid you from me, and raised you with false promises and outright lies."

Phoenix hid his smile. "If I'm not a prisoner, then can I leave?"

"I can't allow that." Adam responded.

"Then how I am not a prisoner?" Phoenix asked him.

"You're still under her spell." Adam brushed off. "This is… a rehabilitation." The bull-man was running out of answers and couldn't risk more questions. "It seems you are not quite ready as I thought. I'll give you a bit more time to consider things."

Viper led Phoenix back out of the chamber, and guided him through the halls. As they walked, Phoenix kept an eye out for anything.

"Hey, have you found anywhere in this place with scroll service?"

"Wouldn't be very hidden otherwise. Buuut… there is one place…"

The conversation caught Phoenix's ears. He craned his neck to see the two people talking. A man with bear ears and a girl with scaly arms who was holding the scroll. "I see, thank you! Need to talk to the folks, so it doesn't look like I vanished off the face of Remnant."

"Good idea." The bear man nodded.

The scaled woman (Lizzy, Phoenix decided, as in Lizard) began trailing behind them. The child watched Lizzy closely until she took a turn they didn't. Just as he was about to lose sight, he saw Lizzy begin dialing on her scroll.  _She must have found service._

Memories began to stir as Phoenix thought of an event from a few years back…

* * *

Six-year-old Phoenix was sulking at his desk at school. He didn't make friends easily and the few he had weren't there today. A group of kids his friend Cecile warned him not to trust approached, hushed whispers barely picked up by his faunus ears. They were talking about his horns. Of course. The leader of the little group made it to Phoenix's desk.

"Hey there! Phoenix, is it?" The kid asked.

"Umm… Yes?" Phoenix responded cautiously. He trusted Cecile, but he didn't want to be rude. Especially if she happened to be wrong, which wouldn't be a first. "And you are?"

"Call me BJ." The kid answered.

Phoenix looked up at his light blue hair, recalling a name from the class roster. "As in Bluejay?"

"I don't-!… like that name." BJ crossed his arms. "It doesn't sound manly."

"Sorry." Phoenix rubbed the back of his head nervously. "So… What do you want to talk about?"

"We wanted to know if you wanted to hang out with us?" BJ offered. "After school?"

"R-really?" Phoenix was surprised. "Me?"

"Yeah! You seem like a cool guy! Meet us at this address." BJ handed him a note.

"I should go home real quick first, let my mom know." Phoenix nodded.

"You don't need to do that!" BJ shook his head. "This is a 'no parents allowed' kinda place! "Sides, if you go right after school, you aint gunna make it in time! We got plans!"

"Oh… umm… I really shouldn't…" Phoenix resisted.

"Man, we thought you were cool…" BJ shook his head. "Oh well…"

"No! I'll be there!" Phoenix promised. "Right after school!"

So when the final bell rang, Phoenix pulled the address out of his pocket. He looked toward his home, where his mother would likely be waiting.  _But this might be my one chance to be friends with the 'Cool Kids'!_  Another look at the address and Phoenix made his decision, turning and walking into the city at large.

The more Phoenix walked, the less sure he was of where he was going. The buildings started to look nicer, but at the same time the energy got darker. He didn't like it. When he finally arrived at the address, BJ was nowhere to be found. But the people that were there started throwing him dirty looks.

"What do we have here?" One of them asked.

"Somebody must be a little lost…" Another answered.

"What are you doing here, little beast?" A third man spoke to Phoenix.

"L-looking for my f-friends…" Phoenix answered, frightened.

"You won't find friends here." The first man told him.

"You see, animals aren't allowed around here." The third man continued.

"Those who do find their way here, have to be punished." The first man scolded.

It was clear these people wanted to do Phoenix harm for being a faunus. The child briefly entertained the idea that he got the wrong address, but it was far more likely that Bluejay had intentionally led him here.  _I should have known better…_

Phoenix had to come up with a plan. His mother had no idea where he was, and was probably getting worried for his absence. He needed to talk to her, but he didn't know how to get home from here. He also had to do something about the man slowly advancing on him. He needed to think fast, and decided to go with his instincts.

So he headbutted the man in the gut.

His horns were harder than ordinary bone, so he didn't have to worry about them as he charged headfirst. The man doubled over and Phoenix saw a glint of a scroll sticking out of his pocket. He grabbed the device and took off, hastily typing in the number his mother made him memorize despite not having his own scroll yet.

He was running through an alley when his mother's voice picked up the call. "Hello?"

"Momma!" Phoenix cried. "I'm sorry, I was tricked, and I need help!"

"Stay on the line, baby." His mother's voice was determined. "I can find you if you stay on the line. I'll be there soon!"

"Hurry!" Phoenix cried. One of the men chasing him grabbed his cloak, tearing it off his shoulders and stopping his run. Phoenix dropped the scroll, and the screen cracked, but the call was still active. He curled up behind a nearby dumpster.

"You little brat!" The man he headbutted shouted, the red cloth in his hands.

"We're going to enjoy this." One of his friends scowled, raising his fist. Phoenix wanted to run again, but he didn't know what he could do. He doubted the same trick would work twice.

"Wait, I should get first hit! The fucker goat-butted me!"

"Who's in charge of our little group again?"

"I thought we agreed to be partners! No one should be 'in charge'!"

The three men started to argue, much to Phoenix's relief. Movement drew his eyes to the rooftops. There he saw his mother, looking intently at her scroll before casting her eyes into the alley. She saw Phoenix and the three men, and shut her scroll immediately.

Using her semblance, she dashed from the rooftop to stall on the wall of the opposite building, then back across the alley to a fire escape. Jumping off of that, she used her semblance to dive bomb the alley floor, landing right between her son and his attackers in a haze of rose petals. The men jumped back as Ruby stood from her superhero-pose-landing.

She glared at them with all the fury she could muster. "I believe that hood you're holding belongs to  _my son_."

One of the men wasn't appropriately frightened enough yet, and dared to mock her, "Looks like we got an animal lover, boys. How's that beastiali-"

Faster than the blink of an eye, Ruby grabbed his arm and held tight, twisting slowly. Not enough to break his arm, but more than enough for him to know she could if she wanted to. " _The only reason you're not all in pain for threatening my boy and hurting all the others you've likely hurt,_ " Ruby whispered, " _I because he's watching. So give us the hood, take your scroll, and cherish the mercy I'm giving you._ "

The young mother let go and the man nodded fervently. All three of them ran from the alley, forgetting the scroll but definitely not forgetting to let go of the hood.

"You wouldn't really hurt them, would you, momma?" Phoenix asked.

"Probably not." Ruby admitted with the men gone. "We have to be better than those kinds of people." The redhead smiled mischievously. "Doesn't mean I can't scare them."

Phoenix giggled. His face fell quickly. "I'm so sorry, momma… this boy at school said…"

Ruby kneeled down and took his shoulder in her hand. "We'll talk about all that at home, okay?" She smiled again and pulled him into a deep hug. "I'm just so glad you're safe…"

"I love you, momma." Phoenix hugged back.

"I love you too, baby…"

* * *

Viper pushed Phoenix into the room. The child turned back and dashed up to him, hugging him around the middle. "Don't let the bad man take me again!" He cried.

"There's no bad men here." Viper assured, peeling Phoenix off him. "Our fight is justice, one that those in charge would deny. They call us monsters, but it's just a ruse. We here know better. Soon, you will too."

The child listened with his hands behind his back, nodding slightly. Viper smiled and left. Once he was gone, Phoenix cautiously drew his hands back out, looking over the scroll he fished out of Viper's pocket.  _No service in this room… I need to get to that spot where Lizzy made her call…_


	17. Chapter 17

Phoenix had every waking minute between Viper dropping him off and the next time he would be escorted out of the room to come up with a plan. He knew this wouldn't be easy, and he needed to do everything in his power to make it work. And he knew he didn't have a lot of power. He had to outsmart these people to succeed. He started by readying his mother's number on the scroll. All he had to do was open it and hit send to make the call.

The door opened suddenly and Phoenix quickly hit the phone under his hood. Lizzy came in to give the child his breakfast. She smiled wide. "Good morning!"

The child nodded and ate, noting Lizzy wasn't leaving. "Am I going somewhere today?" Phoenix asked.

"Adam wishes to speak with you." Lizzy responded.

"Right." Phoenix finished his food slowly. Lizzy watched as the plate slowly emptied. The child intrigued her as he had intrigued everyone at the base, simply by being Adam Taurus's son. Apparently, his mother was supposed to be some now famous huntress. But she was also supposed to be human, and why did Adam have a child with a human? It threw some of his loyalties into question. Anyone to question it to his face got thrown themselves. Usually off someplace high.

Finally, Phoenix finished eating and Lizzy escorted him out of the room. She strode through the halls with purpose, heading straight to the armory where Adam was currently waiting. Until she felt the presence behind her begin to lessen. She quickly turned around and saw Phoenix had stopped a few feet back, looking down a passage with a look of disbelief on his face.

"MOMMA!" He shouted, before taking off down the hall.

Lizzy's face showed her clear surprise at the action. She turned to a few comrades close by. "Search the base for intruders!" She shouted at them, "And someone get the boss!" Lizzy chased after the child, quickly closing the distance between them. Just as she got to him, a few other White Fang soldiers also arrived to hold him down. He struggled with their grasp for a few minutes before settling down. Adam arrived soon after.

"What happened?" He asked.

"He just started running down the halls, screaming for his mother." Viper asked.

"It was like he saw her." Lizzy clarified.

Adam looked to the boy. "There are no intruders in this base, Isan. Like I said, that woman is not coming."

"I… I thought I… I hoped…" Phoenix lamented.

"Isan…" Adam provided a comforting voice. "Do not hope for her. The humans such as her have discriminated us, put us down, hurt us for being different… She  _stole_  you from me, and I never got raise my own son. I'm rescuing you, teaching you the truth. We're going to change the world, and set our faunus brethren free."

Phoenix was quiet for a long moment. "So… she's not coming…?"

"No." Adam confirmed.

Another long pause. "Alright." Phoenix nodded. "What's next… father?"

Adam smiled. "Come with me, Isan. It's time to show you a few things."

The pair of bulls proceeded back down the hall that Phoenix ran through. The child kept his head forward, though his eyes did temporarily dart down. Underneath a jut near the bottom of the uneven rocky wall, a scroll was barely visible. The adults would be too tall to see it, but Phoenix could. As well as the indicator for a signal that was weak, but there. All alongside an active call. It was very difficult for the young bull to hold back his smile.

* * *

Ruby woke up, clutching Beo close to her. In the past few days, they had eliminated many old White Fang bases as Adam's current hideout. The young mother was beginning to believe that wherever they were right now, it was someplace new. New this quickly meant impromptu, but that could be anything from abandoned building in a burnt out town to an underground cave system, and didn't exactly narrow things down.

She began her morning routine of forcing food down her throat to keep her strength up, all while feeling amber eyes that were having a difficult time not watching her. Ruby had shrugged that off long ago. She hastily reviewed various reports of more cleared bases, and sighed heavily. At this rate, it would take them months to find-

_Buzz._

Ruby raised a curious eyebrow as she felt her scroll go off. Anyone that might want to talk to her was here, and didn't need to call her. She pulled out her scroll to an unfamiliar number. She cautiously answered, and heard nothing but incoherent background noise.  _Maybe their waiting for me?_  "Hello?" Ruby tested. Still nothing.

The young mother considered hanging up, but a thought crossed her mind. The only other time Phoenix was anything considered 'lost', his first instinct was to find a scroll.  _Just like I always taught him to_. She even managed to afford to get him his own scroll soon after that incident, but that device was still here.  _Not to mention, I told him I would find him using the scroll. Would he remember something like that, even with how frightened he was at the time?_

Ruby immediately used the databases they had access to for this search to look up the number. The face and forked tongue of a snake faunus showed up on the screen.  _Former affiliations, White Fang. Current location, religious sabbatical? Could not contact?_  Ruby's hope soared, and she practically did as well as she ran to find Winter, Weiss and Yang.

"I have something!" She shouted at them as she stopped in front of them.

"What?" Weiss questioned. "How? We've had nothing concrete since we started this?"

Ruby showed them her scroll, still on an active call. "Can we trace this call back to its precise location?"

"Who's calling you?" Yang asked.

"According to records, a snake faunus on a religious retreat." Ruby told them. "I think Phoenix got one of his captor's scrolls, called me, and hid it somewhere."

"Seriously?" Winter questioned next. "That seems a little farfetched… and too good to be true."

"Actually, Phoenix is a smart kid." Yang defended.

"And, I've used scroll tracking to find him when he was lost once before." Ruby informed. "He may have remembered. What harm is there in looking?"

"Well, was this faunus ex-Fang?" Weiss asked. Ruby nodded. "Then that's that. As long as the call remains active, we should have a location within the hour." The heiress took the scroll to a nearby computer and began the triangulation process.

"This is it, Yang! I can feel it!" Ruby practically bounced with anticipation.

"All right, Rubes, don't pop a gasket." Yang calmed her sister down. "You'll need that energy in a few hours."

Ruby stood still and nodded.  _Phoenix, we're coming soon! Just a bit longer son… you're doing great._

* * *

A small group of huntsmen and huntresses sat in one of the many little-used guest rooms of Atlas Manor, that had been converted to a temporary war room of sorts. Ruby stood at the front of the room and cleared her throat. "Hey, everyone!" She greeted informally. Weiss face palmed from the back of the room.

"Uhh… right." Ruby nodded. "Well, this meeting is to tell everyone that we found the White Fang base."

The commotion from the crowd made their surprise clear. "How?" Someone actually asked.

"Let's just say, an inside source." Ruby sighed. "We all know why we're here, what this job is. We're trying to take down Adam Taurus and his White Fang before they gain power once again. A few of you know that I have my own, sort of side, sort of main, objective here. For those of you that don't, the short of it is… Adam has my son."

The room fell silent, as those who were just learning this took in what it meant for the woman leading them on this charge.

"I have reason to believe he took a scroll to contact me with and hid it, allowing us to trace the location back to a series of caves in the Vacuo desert. A scout we sent to check on this confirmed the location." Ruby continued the briefing, nodding to Qrow in the back. "We think there's no more than seventeen White Fang members inside. With, umm…" Ruby did a quick head count. "Twenty of us! Oh wow, that's more than I expected… um, yeah, we should have the advantage of numbers!"

"When are we heading out?" One of the voices Ruby recognized, Coco Adel, asked for the group. "Soon. We just need everyone to be clear, we will find at least one child in the base. Please, be careful."

"Don't worry." Yang assured. "We'll bring Phoenix home."

"To recap, this will be a full on assault." Ruby told the group. "We may be able to keep under the radar until we enter the caves, but once we do, we  _will_  be detected. Adam has been known to fight ferociously, and some of his allies may fight like they can win if they fight hard enough as well. The White Fang is dead. Let's keep it that way."

* * *

Phoenix could not believe the amount of bull-ploppy coming from his father's mouth. As Adam droned on about the faunus, the White Fang, and their mission, the child could tell he was starting to throw his usual cautious wording aside.  _He must believe he already won with me, and is trying to move on to the next part of his brainwashing. Unless he actually believes his own nonsense._  Phoenix didn't doubt that the latter was entirely possible. But he had to endure, to keep up this charade until his mother finally showed up. And he fully trusted she would.

"Well, Isan? What do you think?" Adam asked.

Phoenix had to quickly recall just what his father was just talking about. "Umm… I'm sorry, father. I must have spaced out for a minute."

"That's fine." Adam nodded. "It's a lot to take in at once. It's about time we got you back to your bedchamber anyway." The bull man started to lead the way back to the bedroom Phoenix spent that last week within. Adam pushed him inside. "Tomorrow, we talk some more. Think on what you learned today, Isan." Adam took his leave. He still locked the door, Phoenix noted.  _Not that foolish. But I'm tricking him for the most part._  The boy nodded as he put himself into bed.

* * *

Ruby's group assembled on a hillside close to the cave complex. It was nearly midnight, and the group contemplated resting up and waiting until morning. Ruby was so close, and couldn't stand to sleep. Coco noticed this, and spoke to the rest of the group. "Hey, who here is actually that tired?"

The group traded looks between themselves. "I know I could fight." Coco continued. "In fact, waiting until morning in a desert may just be foolish."

"It'll be darker in the caves." Ruby countered her. Coco didn't think the redhead could hear. "Faunus can see better in the dark."

"Are you sure, Ruby?" Coco asked.

The redhead turned. "I appreciate what you're doing. But we wait until morning. I'm not going to lose this."

"You need to get some rest too, then." Blake spoke up.

Ruby was still on edge around the cat faunus, but nodded.


	18. Chapter 18

The broken moon hung high in the sky, the pieces chasing each other lazily from horizon to horizon. Blake watched it creep across the night sky, unable to sleep. With how Ruby had been acting around her lately, she was surprised the young mother didn't 'suggest' she stay behind. This whole affair had been a strain on Blake's heart. Not so much as Ruby's, obviously, but she had still pined after this girl for years and come so close… only to screw it all up.

She heard a commotion from the direction of Ruby's sleeping bag. The young mother was searching her pack near frantically. Blake raised a curious eyebrow. What kind of personal item would Ruby carry with her on this mission? The faunus's advanced eyes scanned the ground until she saw a glint that didn't belong with desert sand. A strangely familiar necklace…  _Wait, haven't I seen Ruby wearing this?_  She bent down to pick up the item and noticed that the necklace was… open?  _A locket?_

Blake looked over to Ruby, who was still searching her pack and hadn't seen Blake pick the locket up. Curiosity overwhelming her, the faunus peeked within the already open locket, and wasn't really surprised by what she saw. But looking at the face of Phoenix Rose only made the feelings of guilt resurface. Seeing the picture of baby Phoenix in the other half of the locket brought other feelings to Blake's mind.

She knew Ruby was Phoenix's mother, but seeing that she had a baby picture of Phoenix at all times really drove the point home that Ruby  _raised_  the child. He didn't just show up one day and Ruby decided to love him. Ruby and Phoenix had ten years of history, of love, of being a family. Ten years of growing together. The redhead had carried the child, gave birth to the child, and loved the child as her own because he  _was_  her own.

And if Blake ever wanted to be  _anything_ to Ruby, she had to prove she could love Phoenix too. It wouldn't be so simple as being Ruby's girlfriend anymore. Blake would have to have a relationship with Phoenix as well, perhaps even one resembling motherhood.

_For years, I've had this perfect fantasy. One where I had a full, loving family. Me, and you… And Phoenix._

"Family…" Blake repeated to herself, closing the locket. She needed closure with Adam before that could happen. Her quest to search out that closure inadvertently led to this very situation. Blake's resolve steeled. The next step was getting Phoenix back. Then she would do whatever it took, however long it took, to earn back Ruby's trust.  _But before all that._

Blake approached Ruby cautiously, and the mother slowly turned around. "What?"

"I just found this. I remembered you wearing it." Blake offered the locket.

Ruby snatched it quickly. "Where did you get it?"

"It was just on the ground over there." Blake pointed at the spot she found it. "You were looking for it, right?"

"Yeah." Ruby secured the locket around her neck. "I must have dropped it when I was patrolling the perimeter earlier. Coco talking to me distracted me." The redhead let out a small smile of amusement. "That's why I don't usually take it off."

Blake and Ruby stood in awkward silence for a few more moments until the faunus spoke up again. "You know I'll do whatever it takes, right?"

Ruby took a deep breath and gripped the locket. "Let's just get some rest. Once Phoenix is safe, we can talk about… whatever else."

"Right." Blake nodded. "Good night, Ruby."

"Good night."

* * *

Phoenix was walking through the base side-by-side with Adam the next morning. It had been a few days since he made the call. Viper was looking for his scroll the night before, so Phoenix was sure the call at least went through.  _Here's hoping Momma picked up and followed the scroll._  There was a quiet commotion behind them, making Phoenix turn around. "What was that?"

"It sounded like a fight…" Adam remarked.

"Do you think someone found us?"

"No, Isan, we're hidden well." Adam assured. "Perhaps it's just pent up aggression. These people have been hidden under here for more than a week."

Phoenix frowned the direction of the continued noises. "That's not good."

"No, it's not." Adam admitted. "Let's go."

They took five steps before one of Adam's subordinates came running down the hall to meet them. "Sir! Sir!" He shouted. "We're being attacked! Huntsmen!"

"What!?" Adam shouted. "How did they find us!?"

"I don't know!" He shouted. "But we're not doing good."

"I'll be right there." Adam growled. "Stay back, Isan. I'll deal with this soon enough." Adam ran ahead, drawing his blade. Phoenix waited a few moments before following. If this was it… he had to know.

Adam made it to the front of the caves quickly, and saw the battle reigning. There were more huntsmen and huntresses here than there were White Fang members, deeply troubling the faunus leader. One of his men flew by him, smashing against a wall and falling to the ground. Adam turned the direction he was attacked from and recognized a large red scythe.

Adam smirked. "Hello, honey. We really must talk about junior."

"I'm not playing your sick games!" Ruby shouted. "Where is he!?"

"I'm not going to let you steal him from me again!" Adam declared.

"You never even knew he existed." Ruby reminded him. "You have no claim to him. Phoenix is not your son, he's  _mine_!"

"MOMMA!"

As if on cue, Phoenix appeared in the passage entrance behind Adam. The faunus leader looked down to him with a scowl. "Isan! Get back where I told you to-"

_CRACK!_

Phoenix took his toy sword and splintered half of it across Adam's face. Gripping the jagged remains, he shouted, " _MY NAME IS PHOENIX!_ "

"Baby!" Ruby shouted, falling to her knees and hugging Phoenix tight. "I'm missed you so much! Are you okay? Did he hurt you?"

"I'm fine momma. He didn't hurt me." Phoenix hugged his mother back just as tight. "He didn't want to. He tried to make me like him. But I didn't, momma. I'm still me."

Ruby and Phoenix continued to embrace, and the mother buried her face into her son's shoulder. He was real. He was safe. She didn't ever want to let him go again. With her face buried however, she failed to see Adam slowly stand. She did hear him pick up his weapon, and her eyes shot open. Adam was furious, and aiming his blade straight at the duo. Ruby quickly pushed Phoenix away, and the blade narrowly missed him. Pain shot through her gut as Adam's sword found a place in the young mother's flesh.

"Momma!" Phoenix looked on in horror while Adam pulled his blade out of Ruby's right-side abdomen.

Ruby fell back and slouched up against a wall. She looked up to her horrified son, and noticed Adam's gaze follow her own. "Run!" The redhead shouted. "RUN!"

Phoenix unfroze and took off down the hall way as fast as his nine-year-old form could carry him. Adam pursued quickly. Ruby watched them go, trying to ignore the pain in her side long enough to stand. Blake entered the chamber soon and rushed to Ruby's side. Her eyes widened at the sight of all the blood. "Ruby!? What happened!?"

"Don't worry about me." Ruby told her.

"But Ruby, your blood!" Blake argued, kneeling next to the young mother.

"Blake!" Ruby called for her attention. "Adam went after Phoenix." The redhead looked down the hallway the two bulls vanished into. Blake followed her gaze. "Make sure he stays safe."

The faunus looked back into silver eyes and nodded. "You stay alive. I'll make sure Phoenix comes back to you."

Adam tried to keep pace with Phoenix, but the boy was faster than he thought. "Isan?" He called out as the caverns grew larger and darker. "Isan, where are you?" he repeated in a sing-song voice.

Nestled in a dark crook slightly above Adam's eye level, Phoenix waited for him to pass by. But the bull man stopped instead. "I know you're nearby…" Adam teased. "Come out, come out, wherever you are…"

_He can't sense my aura, momma never unlocked it… faunus… he can smell me… but he doesn't know exactly where I am!_

A new plan came to Phoenix's mind, recalling many a night his mother came home from a hunt… Adam turned his back Phoenix's direction, and the boy sprang into action. He leapt straight at Adam, wrapping himself around the bull-man and burying the jagged end of his broken toy sword a good few inches into his shoulder.

"AAARRRGGHHH!" Adam screamed, completely enraged. "YOU LITTLE FUCKING BRAT!" Adam reached over his shoulder and grabbed Phoenix by his collar. With as much strength as he could muster, Adam threw Phoenix towards the far end of the current cavern.

The boy raised his arms as the wall closed in. The aura-less child slammed full force into the rough, natural cave wall. The sharp rocks shredded the outer-side of his forearms and the left half of his jaw from his chin to his ear. Phoenix toppled to the ground, loose flesh hanging bloody form his face and arms. He barely managed to get to his knees with shaky arms, leeched of strength by his injury.

Adam wasn't satisfied. He felt beyond betrayed, his own child turning against him, fooling him for  _days_ , while likely having found some way to contact his mother. It was the only thing that made sense. Phoenix was no longer his child. He picked his side, with his  _human_  mother.  _He is the enemy now,_ Adam concluded, raising his weapon's rifle.

Blake arrived in time to see Adam aim for Phoenix's unprotected head. She was no longer surprised by her former partner's heartlessness, but her eyes still went wide at the thought of him killing Phoenix. Using gravity dust and her shadow clones, she rocketed herself across the room trying to place herself between Adam and Phoenix. Adam fired, and Blake fell limp right in front of Phoenix.

"Uuughh…" Blake rolled over, blood leaking out of her shoulder. "I moved too quickly… didn't raise my aura… rookie mistake…"

Phoenix's eyes fixated on her wounded shoulder.  _Even more blood…_  ever since this battle started, all Phoenix seemed to see was blood, blood, and more blood. His mother, himself, even Adam's shoulder from a wound Phoenix himself inflicted. And now Blake, the woman who loved his mother, who he personally wanted his mother to be with, was bleeding. And all because of him.

This whole battle was for him. The realization made Phoenix's eyes tear. Everyone wounded, everyone injured, on both sides… no one would be here if it wasn't for him. If it wasn't for the very fact he was Adam Taurus's son.

"And now the scenario is complete…" Adam taunted Blake's way. "Nothing that ever hurt me didn't involve Blake Belladonna…" He pointed his rifle the cat-faunus's way. "No more."

Phoenix may have been young, but even someone his age would have to be stupid to go what he just went through and not realize what was about to happen. " _no…_ " Phoenix whispered, his throat shot by sobs.

"Excuse me?" Adam taunted, pausing his attempt on Blake's life.

Suddenly Phoenix's tears stopped. He felt calm… no, not quite. He felt guarded. He felt protected. He felt an energy wash over him, and looked over himself. Waves of bright orange energy rippled across his form.  _Is this…?_

Adam, too, could barely believe his eyes. He stood there, rifle raised but for all intents and purposes forgotten. The orange energy surrounding Phoenix could only mean one thing.  _His aura…_ There were two known ways to unlock aura. The common occurrence these days was for someone with an already unlocked aura, usually a parent or close family member or friend, to use their own aura to unlock others. The other method, far less common these days, allowed someone to unlock their own aura. Or more accurately, their aura unlocked itself. This second method required a high level of trauma, either physical or mental, and their aura would come through like an emergency shield for body and mind.

While no sane person would ever put someone they cared about through the hell necessary for this second path, those few who did have their aura unlocked through trauma found it came with a fringe benefit. While someone who had their aura unlocked by another would train for months to discover their semblance, trauma-induced aura users tended to have their semblance manifest at the very same moment.

And it seemed Phoenix would be no different, as his hair and eyes began to glow the same color of his aura. His clothes rippled with the energy pulsing out of him, and the child could  _feel_  it coming. That feeling of protection seemed to swell into his shoulder blades, almost as if it were about to explode outward. And explode it did, with what looked like fire bursting out of his back. Adam's eyes widened as the inferno took shape, forming the image of a giant fiery bird with a wingspan as wide as the cavern they were in.

The terrorist leader's surprise overshadowed his rationality, and he fired his next round at the incorporeal fire bird. It made zero effect, and only made Phoenix angrier. " _I SAID NO!_ " Phoenix shouted, his voice overlapped and amplified by the power of his semblance. " _NO MORE PAIN! NO MORE BLOOD!_ " Adam could have sworn he heard an eagle-like cry as the fiery bird tucked in its wings and dive-bombed the adult bull-faunus, slamming into him and exploding upon contact. Adam slammed into the wall behind him and fell to the floor.

The glow died out from Phoenix's hair and eyes, and he toppled onto Blake. It seemed he was completely exhausted from such an intense first use of his semblance. The cat-faunus wrapped her arms around the child and watched Adam. She wasn't going to assume he was out for the count.

Her caution proved appropriate. Adam slowly stood. He was conscious, but very worse for wear. Getting hit by the full weight of another's semblance, even a child's, could be devastating. He raised his rifle once again, and Blake drew as much of herself around Phoenix as she could manage.

_BANG!_

Blake's eyes squeezed shut, but she felt no pain… well, no new pain. She did hear something clatter across the ground. She opened her eyes slowly and saw Adam's rifle on the ground next to her, a sizable bullet buried in the side.  _A sniper round…_  Blake looked up and saw Ruby clutching her bloodied side with one hand and Crescent Rose in the other. With only one hand to wield it with, she extended the full scythe and used the blade as a stand.

Adam opened her mouth to goad the redhead, but Ruby pulled the trigger again before he had a chance.  _BANG!_ Adam fell to the floor, holding his side. Ruby had shot him in the same exact spot he stabbed her in. "Just shut up, jerkface. I've had enough of your crazy." She told him wearily.

"Going to kill me, sweetheart?" Adam teased.

Ruby grabbed her weapon higher up the shaft and pulled it out of the ground, walking slowly towards Adam. She raised the blade, ready to bring it down into the bull-man. Adam almost smiled. "Bring it down. Kill me, go ahead."

"Momma..." Phoenix was stirring back to consciousness on top of Blake.

Ruby frowned and spun the scythe around and struck Adam with the blunt end of Crescent Rose, knocking him out but keeping him alive.

Blake stared on. "You could have killed him," the faunus told her lover. "No one would blame you."

"But we have to be better." Phoenix spoke. "Though, we can scare them at least."

Ruby chuckled softly. "That's right, Nix… You're a good boy."

"Momma…" Phoenix spoke slowly. "Your side…"

Blake was reminded of Ruby's injury. "Oum, Ruby, why are you walking around like that!?"

"I'm fine." Ruby responded weakly. "It stopped hurting…" That was the moment Ruby's adrenaline died and she began to keel over.

" _That's blood-loss you idiot!_ " Was the last thing Ruby heard before she passed out.

* * *

**Phoenix's semblance; Guardian Spirit ^**

* * *

 

Yang and Phoenix stood in the waiting room of Vacuo's premier hospital. Ruby was still under the knife as far as they knew. The situation was tense. Phoenix kept rubbing his own bandages on his arms and jaw. His newfound aura wasn't able to work on his injuries for long before his semblance drained it all, and the doctors guaranteed he would have scarring for the rest of his life. The mood of the room was palpable, and Blake knew it the second she entered the waiting room herself, rubbing the bandages on her own shoulder.

Luckily, relief would come quickly. The doctor entered the room and looked upon the three with kind eyes. "We were able to stabilize her. With her aura helping her, she should make a complete recovery. Other than adding another scar to an already impressive list, she should be able to resume hunting in a short couple of months."

"Oh, thank god!" Yang exclaimed, a smile breaking over her face. It was finally over.

Phoenix bounced in his seat. "Can I see her!"

"Of course, just don't break her stiches." The Doctor warned.

"Let's go, little guy!" Yang exclaimed, leading Phoenix by his hand.

Blake moved quickly next to the pair, stopping them with a soft hand. "Wait, Yang… can I… bring him to her?"

Yang raised a curious eyebrow. "Why for, partner?"

Blake smiled. Yang's casual use of the old phrase was a good sign. "I told her back in the cave that I would bring Phoenix back to her." The faunus twiddled her fingers nervously. "I kind of want to keep that promise."

Yang considered things. Phoenix, however, already decided. "I want Blake to bring me to momma." He told his aunt with a smile.

Yang suppressed a giggle. "You're a little shipper, aren't you?"

"A what?" Phoenix asked.

"Nothing, I'll tell you later." Yang let go of Phoenix's hand so he could grab Blake's. "Go on, you two. I'll be along in a minute."

Blake proceeded slowly through the patient wing, hand in hand with little Phoenix. Ruby was staring at her scroll, watching a news report.

"We won't be making the same mistakes twice." The Valen police chief promised on the air. "Adam Taurus will be going into a very deep, very dark hole. We are triple checking all guards for White Fang backgrounds, and expanding that check to include family and friends. For the most part, only human guards will be permanently stationed. Adam's experience with psychological warfare makes using faunus guards too risky. And at the request of a Huntsmen, who wishes to remain unnamed, who had a history with the man, he will never be allowed visitors. We won't ever see Adam Taurus free again."

Ruby smiled at the report.  _It's all over now… and I bet that 'huntsmen' was actually a 'huntress'._  She felt visitors approaching and raised her head to see them. Blake was being led by Phoenix straight to her bed. The faunus dared to speak, "I told you I'd bring him back to you."

"Momma!" Phoenix shouted, climbing up into his mother's bed and hugging her tight.

"OW OW, MY STICHES!" Ruby tensed.

Phoenix jumped back. "I'm sorry!"

"It's okay, Nix." Ruby promised. "Just be careful."

They embraced once more, this time avoiding Ruby's wound. "I missed you so much Phoenix…" She ruffled his hair. She froze. "What happened to your hair!?"

Phoenix nearly forgot himself until Ruby said something. His hair, instead of resembling his mother's dark red, was now a brighter red with the tips fading into orange. "Oh, yeah… apparently it's been like that since…"

"Your semblance." Ruby guessed. "An officer was in here before they let me have visitors. They filled me in on everything." She hugged Phoenix close again. "I'm so sorry that… that… That it wasn't me who unlocked your aura." Was how she decided to word it.

Phoenix nodded, knowing what his mother truly meant. "It's okay, momma."

She looked over her son, noticing the bandages. She knew what was underneath, why they were necessary. She also noticed something else changed by his aura and semblance unlock. His eyes, while still mostly silver, now had a small ring of bright orange at the very inside of his irises, right against his pupils. "I'm sorry this happened to you."

"It's okay momma." Phoenix assured her. "It's all done now. And I'm stronger for it!"

Ruby smiled at her son's continued optimism.

"He's a lot like you." Blake noted, reminding Ruby that she was in the room.

Ruby knew she had to speak to Blake, sooner rather than later. "Hey, Nix? Go find Aunt Yang. Grab me something from the vending machines, kay? A soda, please."

Nix nodded with a knowing grin and left Blake and Ruby alone. Blake opened her mouth first. "I'm so sorry for everything, Ruby. I messed up big when I told Adam, I know I did… I never imagined he would do this, that he  _could_  do this-"

"Blake." Ruby grabbed her hand. "I thought a lot about this, the past week. I know your relationship with Adam was complicated. I can understand why you might need some sort of closure after everything. You still didn't need to tell him about Phoenix."

"I'm so sorry…" Blake's face fell.

"I'm not done." Ruby squeezed Blake's hand. "Like I told Phoenix, the officer told me everything that happened.  _Everything._  I know you jumped in front of Adam's bullet for Phoenix. Without even thinking, you even forgot to raise your aura. And that means something, Blake. Means a lot, in fact."

Blake's heart felt hopeful. "So… it's not too late for your perfect fantasy, is it…? You, me, and Phoenix? A family?"

Ruby sighed. "I know the family bit may take some getting used to. It may take a while for all of us to find the proper dynamics. I don't want to rush you if you're not-"

"Just kiss already!"

Blake and Ruby's heads both spun towards the voice, where bright red hair and horns were only visible for an instant before a leather clad arm pulled it behind an unused bed and out of sight.

"Was that Yang or-" Blake asked.

"Phoenix." Ruby answered, a smile playing across her lips.

The smile made Blake blush madly. "What… are you thinking?"

"Well…" Ruby giggled. "You heard the little-man."

Blake was very pleasantly surprised to be pulled into a kiss by Ruby Rose, and returned it with fervor. When they finally broke off, Blake's smile couldn't be killed. "I'm ready for this. We'll figure it all out together. I love you, Ruby Rose."

"I love you too, Blake Belladonna." The young mother smiled back.

"Yay!" Phoenix shouted, running across the hall toward the pair. She jumped in Ruby's lap and pulled his mother in with one arm. "Momma!" With his other arm, he pulled Blake into the group hug. "Mommy!"

Ruby giggled, wrapping her arms around her two favorite people. "Mommy, huh?"

"Well," Blake responded with a smile, adding both of her own arms into the embrace. "You heard the little man."

Yang watched from nearby and smiled. The perfect little family for her little sister had formed before her very eyes, after far too much turmoil and drama in the blonde's own opinion. She turned and walked out of the ward, letting them have their moment. She could talk to them tomorrow.

Tomorrow and every day after that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the official end of Phoenix Rose. There is still one more chapter coming, but that was a bonus chapter written over a year after this story officially closed on ff.net as a 'holiday special'.


	19. Phoenix Rose Christmas Special

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reminder: This chapter was written as an afterward/Christmas Special over a year after the story originally closed.

Dreams faded quietly as Phoenix Rose felt himself slowly return to the waking world. He sat up, taking his time to stretch and search for where his stuffed beowolf, Beo, had fallen in the night. Despite it being Tuesday, Phoenix knew he didn't have school. The reason why escaped his still-tired mind. Something important was happening today, but what it was he wasn't sure.

As part of his morning routine, Phoenix went into the bathroom to take care of whatever needed to be taken care of. He didn't need the toilet, and he didn't think he was going anywhere so a shower could wait. He stood up on the stepstool in front of the sink and contemplated whether he wanted to brush his teeth and wait a while for breakfast or get food first and brush later. His contemplation cut short when he found himself staring into the mirror, trying to will his brain to finish waking up.

His eyes started with his hair. It naturally swept backwards and slightly up, no matter how often he tried to tame it. Combined with the colors his semblance had permanently dyed his hair, it easily resembled fire. As his eyes panned downed, they eventually focused on his left-side jaw. The scarring was a large, bumpy red patch that covered the area Adam had shredded against the cave wall. His forearms sported similar scars from that day in the caves as well.

The doctor had told him the scars were likely to fade away and the normal skin color would return. That was over two years ago now, and Phoenix doubted they would ever go away on their own. Not that he minded, he actually kind of liked his scars. They may not be tied to happy memories, but those memories were important nonetheless. His friend Cecile liked them too, which was something his mothers enjoyed teasing him about.

Finally, he was awake enough to make a decision about his morning. And his stomach made the choice quite clear. He made his way past the living room and into the kitchen, sparing only a momentary glance to the decorated pine tree next to the television. He fully expected to see his mothers in the kitchen enjoying a morning coffee, but they weren't there.  _Weird, they're usually awake before me… they must have been up late. Wait, how did I get to bed? I thought I fell asleep on the couch waiting for…_

It clicked. Phoenix remembered why today was so important. Any thought of food was immediately lost as his eyes peered over the bar style counter that also served as a window from the kitchen to the living room, to look at the tree. The presents underneath it had doubled overnight!  _Santa did come!_  It was Christmas day! He ran back down the hallway, intent on waking his mothers.

* * *

Ruby and Blake were spread across the bed they shared, still clothed in their day wear after being too tired to change after the night before. They seemed to be in a deep, peaceful sleep. Until Blake's faunus ears started to twitch at the sound of Phoenix's feet thumping all the way down the hallway. Before her sensitive hearing could adjust to that sound and allow her to drift back to sleep, another sound rudely interrupted both women's sleep.

"Moooms! Momma! Mommy! Mom! Mom! Moooooooommm!" Phoenix pounded on the door to the room.

"Why is he awake so early…" Ruby quietly bemoaned while Phoenix continued to knock and shout.

"Because he actually slept…" Blake went to playfully slap her lover's arm, though her arm translated her brain's order as raising her hand weakly and letting it fall onto Ruby. "It's your fault you know…"

"Hey, you're the one who fed him that calming tea…" Ruby countered. "Phoenix! Quiet please!" She shouted over Blake at the door, "We'll be out in a minute, sweetheart!"

"Only because  _your_  son wouldn't go to bed and let us be Santa," Blake argued, "I mean, what eleven-year-old still believes in Santa?"

"Don't you dare ruin the magic for him, Blake Belladonna," Ruby warned, "And  _my_  son? Why is he  _my_  son whenever he's being a brat?"

"Because you  _are_ a brat," Blake playfully struck her lover's arm more successfully, "I, however, am a pillar of elegance."

"You're a pillar of something, alright," Ruby stood and stretched. "I need coffee. Then we can open our presents with  _our_  son."

"What about Weiss and Yang?" Blake asked, getting to her feet as well.

"If we wait to start opening presents until they get here, we won't get to sleep until past midnight again," Ruby pointed out. "I learned that when they came around last year with a truckload of extra gifts between them. No, morning gifts for the family, then a nap, take Phoenix out for lunch, then evening gifts with the extended family."

"Then a nice, big salmon for dinner?" Blake asked hopefully.

"We'll see," Ruby teased.

* * *

It hadn't had taken as long as Blake feared to settle in with Ruby and Phoenix in Mistral. After Ruby officially forgave her in the hospital two years ago, she further surprised Blake by almost immediately asking if Blake planned to move in. Ruby quickly realized how forward this sounded, and backpedaled with a nervously sputtered excuse. She then backpedaled on the initial backpedal when Blake told her that the faunus didn't have any single home and all but ordered Blake to move in.

They did have their occasional bumps in the road, mostly during the first few months while Blake was feeling out her boundaries. For one, Blake didn't think it was appropriate to jump right into Ruby's bed and slept on the couch for several weeks. It took Ruby reaching a boiling point and dragging the faunus into the bedroom, even if they were to only cuddle for the time being, to end that behavior.

A surprisingly easy boundary was if Ruby expected her to mother Phoenix at all or stay back and leave all the parenting to the redhead. Phoenix was a good kid who barely needed extra parenting, which made that easy. Preparing for the off-chance Blake might need to parent, she decided to suck it up and have a talk with Ruby about what the redhead expected, which Ruby made clear she greatly appreciated. It wasn't too long after that when Phoenix became both of their son and not just Ruby's.

_Other_  boundaries were also tricky to navigate as Ruby went from being frustrated at Blake being too handsy, to being frustrated at Blake not being handsy enough. After three months, they finally found their groove. Blake found a place that wasn't to distant nor intrusive, which also had a comfortable growth curve. By month five, they had a fully developed bedroom relationship.

By month six, all the hard 'figuring things out' were behind them. And all three of them couldn't be happier.

* * *

The sound of tearing paper filled their morning as the three took turns opening present after present. It was hard to tell if Phoenix was more excited about Santa's gifts or the gifts from his mothers. In the end, it didn't matter to Ruby as long as she got her video footage of Christmas morning.

"I think there's one last gift for you Phoenix…" Blake reached around the tree to grab the last present. This was the big one for this year (at least from Blake and Ruby) and was slyly pushed behind the tree to make sure it was opened last. "'To Phoenix; From Momma and Mommy.' What do you think it is?"

"Hmmm…" Phoenix took the box and shook it lightly, hearing nothing. Whatever it was, was secure in the box. He grabbed the edge of the wrapping and peeled away one strip, revealing a logo that told him what this was right away. "No way!"

The rest of the wrapping stood no chance in the face of Phoenix's excitement. Soon he was staring giddily at the full box collector's set of the hottest RPG video game of that season, containing the game in a special case, an artbook, and an 8" statuette of the main villain. "Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!" Phoenix shouted, hugging his moms around the middle before opening the box itself.

"I thought 'Santa' was getting that for him?" Blake asked Ruby quietly.

"If Nix went to school bragging about how Santa got him a two-hundred-lien collector's set, how would all the kids whose parents can't afford a two-hundred-lien gift from Santa feel?" Ruby rationalized, "Besides, he's been talking about this game for almost two months. I wanted to show him we listen."

"Fair enough," Blake accepted.

"That is so cool…" Phoenix held up the statuette of the black-armored villain, hands cupping the hilt of a sword with it's point on the ground. A deep purple cape flowed behind him as is blown by the wind.

"Why is the statue of the villain, anyways?" Blake asked, "Shouldn't it be the hero?"

"The main character is custom made by the player at the start of the game," Ruby answered.

"I didn't know games could do that…" Blake thought aloud.

"You need to play more games, honey," Ruby advised.

"Can I play now!?" Phoenix asked excitedly.

"Of course!" Ruby smiled.

"Will you watch!?"

"Of course!"

Blake and Ruby settled into each other on the couch while Phoenix turned on the game console. The tired parents barely made it five minutes before falling asleep right there.

* * *

Blake and Ruby were roused some time later by Phoenix. He had let them sleep for a few hours while he played, but it was time for another Christmas tradition. "I think it's lunchtime," He told them.

"Oh," Ruby slowly sat up, "I'm sorry I wasn't watching your game, sweetheart."

"It's okay," Phoenix assured, "Why are adults so tired on Christmas anyway?"

"You'll understand when you're an adult," Blake instinctively reflected.

"If you say so…" Phoenix shrugged.

Blake found her feet quickly. Despite not waking naturally, she was actually feeling quite refreshed after that nap. "Alright, I'll go grab our shoes," The faunus volunteered. When she returned with everyone's footwear, Phoenix was shaking Ruby once again. The young mother had slumped over and was snoring peacefully on the couch.

"She won't wake up…" Phoenix complained.

Blake frowned down at her lover. Going out to the two's favorite diner for Christmas lunch had been a tradition for years before Ruby came back into everyone else's lives. But Ruby had spent the last few weeks overworking herself on contracts to afford Phoenix's gifts. Blake couldn't help because they had already planned beforehand for her to take Phoenix to Menagerie to see Blake's parents. Ruby could probably use the sleep…

"Let's let her sleep, Nix," Blake decided, "We'll bring her food back in a go-box, kay?"

"But… we always go together…" Phoenix lamented.

"I know, and I really hope Momma doesn't get mad at me for going without her. But I think she needs her sleep this year," Blake explained, "Besides, just you and me shouldn't be too bad. You enjoyed yourself last week in Menagerie, right?"

"So many faunus everywhere!" Phoenix lit up as he was successfully mentally distracted. "I've never seen so many!"

Blake and Phoenix quietly left the house, leaving a note for Ruby in case she woke.

* * *

The only diner open Christmas afternoon also happened to be Phoenix's favorite. After learning this, it soon became tradition to go there for lunch every year, where Phoenix and Ruby would indulge in their favorite meals. Blake had joined them the last two years, not to mention whenever else they made it into the diner since Blake moved in. The waiters and waitresses knew them and knew what they would order the moment they stepped inside.

"Where's Ruby?" The waitress asked.

"Still asleep," Blake answered, "She's been working hard the past two weeks."

"I got a game, with a fancy case, and a fancy book, and a fancy statue too!" Phoenix told the waitress excitedly.

"Collector's bundle," Blake clarified.

While Ruby not being there did make things different, that's not to say Blake and Phoenix still didn't enjoy their lunch. It was nice for both of them to spend some time with each other without Ruby around anyways. Things still occasionally got awkward whenever it was just the two of them, but they would only get more comfortable with it if they spent that time for just the two of them and got more used to each other.

Phoenix was currently trying to describe his new game to Blake, trying to get her to understand it for whenever she finally saw him or Ruby play it. Blake never spent time with video games, and supposedly 'simple' concepts like 'DPS' or 'resource-grinding' were still a little lost on her. Health and Magic bar seemed simple enough, but what did a 'Focus' bar control?  _Ruby has a much better time keeping up with these conversations._

As Phoenix was explaining away, he accidentally knocked his soda glass off the table while reaching for a drink. To his credit he did react quickly, but it didn't help as he was still too slow to catch the glass before it broke on the ground. "I'm sorry!" He told the waitress.

"It's okay, Nix," The waitress assured, "Accidents happen. Let's get this broken glass cleaned up and I'll bring you another soda, okay?"

Phoenix silently returned to his food, and Blake could tell something was weighing on his mind. He had even stopped trying to explain the concept of a 'left-stick-button'. "Are you okay, Nix?"

"Yeah," Phoenix assured, though his voice wasn't confident.

"It was just a glass, sweetheart," Blake tried to cheer him up, "No one is going to make a big deal of it."

"It's not that…" Phoenix admitted.

"Then what is it?" Blake pressed.

Phoenix set down his fork and took a deep breath. "When we were in Menagerie, there were faunus everywhere. And everyone was so fast, and agile, I swear I saw someone jump up onto a rooftop from the ground!"

"It's a wild place," Blake agreed with a smile.

Phoenix wasn't smiling. "I'm a faunus too, right? Why can't I catch one glass?"

"Oh," Blake saw, and couldn't help but giggle, "I sometimes forget there wasn't someone around for you to talk to about faunus stuff."

Phoenix finally looked up, eyebrows raised and eyes staring into hers. "You mean… there's an actual reason?"

"It can be easy for humans to forget just how much variety there are to faunus," Blake explained, "With so many feline, canine, and simian faunus around, people forget about rarer faunus that  _aren't_ naturally lithe and light footed."

Phoenix settled in his seat, listening intently to his faunus step-mother.

"As faunus, we  _all_  have heightened senses. Sight, smell, taste, etcetera…" Blake continued, happy to finally give Phoenix useful information he didn't already have. "As a feline faunus, I have a lighter body and tighter muscles that allow me to naturally jump high, step silently, and move quickly  _on top_  of the basic faunus traits. But you, Phoenix, are not a feline faunus. Nor a canine, nor a simian."

"I'm a bull," Phoenix was starting to understand what Blake was trying to tell him.

"Hold out your arm," Blake asked, extending hers as well. There was some definition on the elder faunus's arm, more of an athletic toning than built muscle. The younger faunus appeared to sport the same skinny arm any healthy eleven-year-old would, human or faunus. "Give your bicep a squeeze, like this," Blake demonstrated.

Phoenix copied Blake's motions, squeezing his bicep.

"Now, is your arm soft and supple like an eleven-year-old's arm?" Blake asked with a knowing smirk, "Or is it surprisingly firm?"

Phoenix's eyes glazed out as he thought about other kids in his class, kids his age. In fact, he had actually felt one of their arms like this before, pulling on his friend Cecile's arm for her attention. "It is firm…"

"You won't be tight-rope walking anytime soon. In fact, it's probably a bad idea for you to get on a high-wire at all," Blake pushed on, "But you are naturally strong, more than you know. Especially with your semblance. With the right training, you could be an absolute power-house. And while you may never be as fast as some of your peers, when you do hit-"

"I'll hit  _super_  hard!" Phoenix concluded, smiling.

"That's right," Blake smiled.

Blake's scroll buzzed close to the end of lunch, an incoming call from Ruby. She laid her scroll on the table and pressed 'accept' and 'speaker'. "Hey, babe, you're on speaker."

"I'm so sorry I missed lunch!" Ruby's voice came through the scroll, "How far in are you two?"

"We should be leaving pretty soon," Blake told her.

"I'm so sorry, Phoenix…" Ruby apologized again.

"It's okay, momma," Phoenix assured, "We're gunna get a go-box and bring you lunch!"

"It's not about that, though," Ruby lamented, "It's about sitting down with you two."

"And if you had sat down with us here, you would be asleep in the booth by now," Blake told her.

"Yeah, you needed your sleep, right?" Phoenix contributed.

"I… ugh, you're probably right," Ruby conceded, "Thank you, sweetheart, love… I don't know what I'd do without you two."

"We should be out of here in… however long it takes for them to make your food," Blake informed her lover.

"Well, hurry… I am pretty hungry…" Ruby confessed.

"Will do. Love you, babe," Blake signed off.

"I love you, too, momma!" Phoenix called out.

"And I love both of you. See you soon," Ruby ended the call.

"We  _had_  better hurry," Blake told Phoenix, "By the time momma finishes her food, Aunt Weiss and Aunt Yang will be there."

* * *

Blake was right on the money. No sooner did Ruby finish the meal she and Phoenix brought home for her had Yang started to nearly knock their front door off its hinges. Blake answered the door while Ruby washed up. "Hey, Yang!"

"Blake!" Yang was always excited to come to Mistral. Being able to visit her sister and nephew at their home never lost its novelty to the blonde, and Blake being there was an added bonus. Yang threw her arms around her faunus friend, pulling her into a deep hug. "Now where's my sister and her little man!"

Blake smiled at Yang's antics as the blonde pushed past her and into the house. Blake turned to greet Weiss next, and spotted a bag of charcoal. "What's that for?"

"Yang is cooking her burgers tonight, right?" Weiss asked, thinking Blake's ignorance might be a sign of changing plans.

"Is she? I didn't know," Blake lamented the truth, not being  _told_  the plan in the first place.

"What, something wrong with my burgers?" Yang appeared next to Blake, crossing her arms playfully.

"No, your burgers are great!" Blake quickly assured, "It's just that Ruby has been teasing me about seafood for the past week. I thought… we might be doing something else for dinner."

Blake helped bring in the burger stuff Weiss and Yang brought with them, and Ruby joined them to bring in the extra gifts. While Weiss and Yang sat with Phoenix as he opened his new presents, Ruby pulled Blake into the kitchen.

"What's up?" Blake asked.

"Okay, I know you've seen Yang's burger stuff by now…" Ruby opened.

"I have…" Blake nodded cautiously.

"Well… I had this whole thing planned a week ago, until Yang calls three days ago and  _insists_  she make her burgers. So, I came up with another plan…" Ruby pulled a packaged albacore out of the fridge.

Blake's mouth immediately watered at the sight.

"I found a recipe online," Ruby explained, "While Yang is on the back balcony making everyone hamburger patties,  _I'll_  be in the kitchen making you your very own, homemade, tuna-burger patties!"

Blake stared into Ruby's eyes. "I love you so much."

"I know you do," Ruby smirked, kissing her cheek quickly. "Merry Christmas, Blake Belladonna."

* * *

Phoenix had a lot of new toys by the end of the hour, most of which Ruby was sure would be lost or broken by next Christmas. Thanks to careful gift planning rigidly spearheaded by Phoenix's biological mother, no present surpassed the two-hundred-lien collector's box. Not because Ruby wanted to give Phoenix the best gift (well, not  _just_  because). Rather, because she knew if she let Weiss have free reign the heiress would have gotten Phoenix something the rich girl wouldn't realize was exceedingly extravagant and expensive.

So by the time everyone was sitting around and enjoying their burgers, all presents had been handed out, family time had been had, and Phoenix returned to his new RPG while the adults caught up over the kitchen bar.

"So, Blake," Yang asked, "How did you enjoy your burger?"

"It was  _amazing_ ," Blake fawned, "You have to do that again sometime, Rubes."

"How about on your birthday?" Ruby suggested, "Me and Nix can have some then, too."

"I can't wait…" Blake sighed, "Literally. I can not wait. I want more tomorrow."

"Calm down, kitty," Ruby giggled.

The mention of Phoenix brought Weiss's gaze to the small boy, and Yang could tell something was on the heiress's mind. "What's up, snowflake?"

"I want one…" Weiss bemoaned.

"I know you do, we're working on it babe," Yang tried to reassure her wife.

"Working on what?" Ruby asked.

Yang and Weiss shared a gaze that said  _might as well tell them_. "We've been looking into getting a child," Weiss told them.

"We've visited adoption centers, orphanages," Yang explained, "Even looked into donor sperm."

"Awww!" Ruby loved the thought of Weiss and Yang having a child of their own. "I think you two would make a  _great_  baby!"

"It's just so hard to pick…" Yang complained, "We  _could_  have our own, or we can give an already existing baby a good home. And if we go for the latter,  _which_  baby do we chose?"

"If we even chose a baby…" Weiss mumbled.

"Not this again…" Yang sighed.

"What?" Weiss accused.

"She's a brat!" Yang argued.

"She's lonely!" Weiss argued right back.

Ruby's hand suddenly appeared between them, cutting them off. "Okay! Stopping the shouting  _before_  it starts!" Ruby used her 'Serious Parenting Voice'. "Who is 'she'?"

Weiss pulled a photograph out of her pocket. A girl, close to Phoenix's age, with dark hair and sky blue eyes. "We found her in one of the orphanages. The older a child gets, the less likely they are to be adopted."

"Except  _she_  hasn't been adopted because she's a hair-pulling bi-"

" _Yang_!" Ruby scolded, shutting the blonde up. The redhead swore her parenting instincts were used more on her sister than they ever were on her actual son.

"She deserves to be adopted as much as any of the babies," Weiss calmly stated her argument, "Statistically speaking, all of the infants and toddlers we looked at will be adopted before she ever gets a chance."

"There's a reason for that, and it's not just her age," Yang countered, pointing at the picture, "You see that scar on her cheek? She got it by picking fights. She's a bully."

"She's lashing out!" Weiss defended. "Who are you to say someone is being too angry?"

" _I_  never  _bullied_  anyone," Yang reminded her.

" _She reminds me of me, dumbass!_ " Weiss snapped. "I thought you would have picked up on that by now!"

Ruby and Blake shared an uneasy glance. It was clear this argument had been going on for far longer than just tonight.

Yang was also stunned. "What do mean, 'she reminds you of you'?"

"She's lashing out because she's angry, and she's angry because she's lonely," Weiss explained. "When I looked into her eyes, I saw myself at her age. I saw myself at an age where I began to believe I would never be loved. Because if my own mother and father didn't care about me, who would? Anyone I met my own age didn't  _want_  to be my friend. I was an ulterior motive, and nothing more. It took meeting the three of you to finally change that, and even then, it didn't happen right away. Now I  _do_  have a family, people who love me. I have all of you."

"Weiss…" Yang spoke softly.

"I don't know what happened to her, that made her an orphan. But I don't think it was happy. And I get the feeling other kids her age are not nice to her. She might be throwing punches, but I wonder what the other kids might be  _saying_  that no one else hears. I guarantee she believes no one will ever love her," Weiss continued, "And that's what she needs. Somebody to love her. Just like anyone else. And I think we can do that, Yang."

Yang was quiet for a moment. Slowly and carefully, she pulled her wife into an embrace. "I'm sorry, Weiss. I didn't think about… well, I just didn't think."

"Clearly," Weiss scolded, though snuggled into Yang regardless.

"I think the night's over," Yang called, "Let's go to our hotel, and we can talk over this. I'll listen this time. I promise."

"You better…" Weiss frowned, though still took Yang's hand as they stood. "I guess we're off."

"Call us in the morning, we'll do breakfast before you leave!" Ruby offered, trying quickly to lighten the mood of the room before they left.

* * *

"I think Yang was right," Ruby told Blake. The two continued to talk over the counter for a while longer while Phoenix played, but Ruby had noticed he finally passed out while manipulating one of the RPG's many menus. "The night's over."

"And yet another perfect Christmas hosted by Ruby Rose comes to a close," Blake smiled, "I do have one more present for you, before the night is up."

"Really?" Ruby perked up, leaning across the counter toward Blake. "What is it? Why didn't you give it to me earlier?"

Blake elected to ignore Ruby's second question, only answering the first. "How would you like this for a present?" She smirked, leaning across the bar counter as well. Blake's next words were whispered softly and sultry "Me, wearing a bow… and nothing else?"

Ruby nearly fell as her elbow slipped off the counter, her face turning bright red. "I-I-I-I-I-I-I-" The redhead was truly at a loss for words.

"Go tuck Phoenix in," Blake kissed her lover's cheek, "I'll prepare your final present in the bedroom."

It took a lot of self-control not to move too quickly. Ruby knew it would only waste time if she accidentally woke Phoenix while moving him. She also made sure to save his game before turning it off, though mostly to make sure Blake had time to get ready. Despite this, it still felt like no time at all that Ruby was locking the door to the room she and Blake shared, staring at her 'final present'.

"I love you so much," Ruby finally managed words.

"I know you do," Blake stepped close and kissed her lover deeply, "Merry Christmas, Ruby Rose."

_**And Happy Holidays to All** _

_**I hope you all enjoyed the Phoenix Rose Holiday Special!** _

_**The above is the official end of the chapter, but there was one more scene I wanted to write below...** _

* * *

_**Postscript, three days later** _

Eisdra sat on her bed at the orphanage, legs curled up against herself, staring at herself in the mirror at the foot of her bed. It was a rare moment of freedom and solitude. A rare opportunity to cry. Because Eisdra couldn't be seen crying. Not by the other children, not by the adults. She was a tough girl. She had to be. It was how she survived. People pick apart the weak. She had to be strong. But words still hurt. She knew that better than anyone. Her knuckles wouldn't be bleeding right now if words didn't hurt. And now that boy knew better than to use hurtful words at her.

But the damage had still been done, and Eisdra had to find an excuse to leave. Because words hurt, and she couldn't be seen crying.

Eisdra was also an expert at ending a cry on a dime by now. As soon as the door to her room opened, she sucked in her emotion and capped it off. To her surprise, it wasn't the orphanage head here to scold her, or the police here to take her away again. It was a woman she didn't know but was still familiar. A woman in white, who had been at the orphanage a few weeks ago with a large blonde.

The blonde asked to see the babies. No one ever asked to see Eisdra. So Eisdra pulled on the blonde's long hair. The blonde exploded, slinging words. Not like the boy's hurtful words. The blonde's words she could shrug off.

_But if I hurt her friend, why is she here?_

"Hello. Eisdra, is it?" The woman greeted politely.

Eisdra did her best to ignore the woman, staring into the mirror once more. Whatever reason she had come, Eisdra doubted it was kind. It had been a long time since someone was genuinely kind to her.

"Eisdra, my name is Wiess Xiao Long. I'm here to talk to you," The woman introduced herself.

"Go away…" Eisdra finally spoke, hoping this 'Weiss' would take heed. Hitting an adult would get her in big trouble, but it wasn't anything she hadn't done before.

Instead, there was a moment of silence where neither girl moved.

"What did they say, Eisdra?"

The girl was sincerely surprised at the question. No one, especially no adult, had aver asked her that. They had all assumed the trouble child was throwing punches to start trouble. She looked Weiss's way long enough to see the woman looking toward the broken skin across her knuckles. That was quickly rectified, and her eyes found their own reflection once more.

"I think I know how you feel," Weiss took steps toward the little girl's bed.

"How can you know how I feel?" Eisdra shot.

Weiss sat down on the bed behind her. She turned her gaze to Eisdra's mirror as well. They could see each other's faces without turning away. And Weiss saw all she needed to see to be sure.

_Mirror…_

Once again Eisdra was taken aback. Was this woman singing?

_Tell me something…_

The song sounded sad… the song sounded lonely…

_Tell me who's the loneliest of all…_

Eisdra felt Weiss draw her into an embrace. This wasn't right. This shouldn't be happening. She was strong. So why wasn't she pushing this woman away? And why, gods,  _why_  was she crying into Weiss's arms?  _Maybe she does understand… how else could her song sound like how my heart feels?_

They sat holding each other for several minutes until Eisdra's eyes ran dry. Eventually, Weiss stood and spoke, "It's time to go, Eisdra."

"Go?" Eisdra didn't dare believe, even after what had just happened. The past had taught her to be skeptical. "Go where?"

Wiess smiled softly and held out her hand. "Home, of course."


End file.
